Faizel Patel – 31/03/2021
Political analyst Tasneem Essop says President Cyril Ramaphosa is in a stronger position after the African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee (NEC) meeting taking on the politics of the party in a stronger way.
Essop was speaking to Radio Islam about the outcome of the ANC’s meeting.
Ramaphosa announced ANC leaders and members charged with corruption and wrongdoing, including secretary-general Ace Magashule, have 30 days to voluntarily step aside or be suspended.
Essop says the ANC president was clear and unambiguous that the party decision will not change and anticipated an attempt by the party’s radical economic transformation faction.
“There are indications on the side of Ramaphosa and others in ANC who would like to see factions like the so called RET factions removed from the centre stage of ANC politics and see people like secretary general Ace Magashule step aside. It definitely does appear that they are in a stronger position.”
Essop says it is unclear whether Magashule will step aside.
“There are these caveats to this 30 days whether Magashule will voluntarily to step down from his position temporarily. So there are all of these caveats that need to be considered and definitely it’s not the end of the road. It’s definitely the first part of an ongoing battle in the ANC.”
Meanwhile Magashule who was in Soweto on Wednesday to plant trees said that he was not going anywhere and that he would start consultations with former ANC leaders from 11 April.
Magashule told journalists that he was not stressed about the 30-day deadline set by the ANC’s national executive committee for members facing criminal charges to step aside.
Listen to the interview with Tasneem Essop
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