South Africa: Ace Could Still Swing the Free State

13 June 2023
Scrolla (Johannesburg)
By Zukile Majova

At a glance, it looks as if former Free State premier Ace Magashule may be limping into the sunset of his political career.

Just the latest casualty of President Cyril Ramaphosa's cautious battle against loyalists of former president Jacob Zuma's presidency.

But in fact, he can still be a big problem for the ANC.

The big question is: does he join another party?

The EFF is the obvious possibility -- if Julius Malema manages to bag Magashule, it would bring his party some serious firepower.

It all comes down to the Free State.

Until his expulsion from the ANC, the Free State was guaranteed to remain in control of the ANC after the 2024 national general elections.

If Magashule joins another party, there is now a very real risk that his expulsion from the ANC could cost the ruling party at the polls.

At the very least, it could force the ANC into a coalition.

Already the ANC has been bleeding votes in the province.

The ANC won the Free State by 62% in 2019 at the height of Magashule's popularity.

Poor service delivery in ANC-led municipalities in the Free State reduced the ANC share to just 50.6% in the November 2021 local government elections.

This means opposition parties secured over 49% of the vote in the province and the ANC record on the ground is getting worse.

The latest auditor-general's report shows that not a single ANC-run council in the province has received a clean audit.

Magashule is known to be close to former president Jacob Zuma, who is a firm ally of Julius Malema's EFF.

Zuma's spokesperson Jimmy Manyi recently joined the EFF which made him one of its MPs last week.

The EFF recently released a video of Magashule having a good time with EFF leaders during its commemoration of Freedom Charter Day.

The EFF is aware of Magashule's influence in the Free State and knows that as recently as the ANC elective conference in December 2022, some ANC branches in the Free State nominated Magashule to contest the position of ANC president.

ANC members continue to support him during his court appearances at the Bloemfontein High Court where he is charged with fraud, corruption, money laundering and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act.

The EFF is a 12% party in the Free State, but with Magashule in its ranks, its support base could grow and give the ANC some food for thought in the run-up to next year's elections.

Read the original article on Scrolla.

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