Suspended Secretary-General Ace Magashule’s attempt to be re-instated has been stopped dead in its tracks as the South Gauteng High Court dismisses all three applications seeking to intervene in the matter between the African National Congress (ANC) and Magashule.

The High Court found that the case was not a matter of urgency and was not satisfied with the supporting argument though the bench acknowledged the relevance of the applications to the membership of the ANC and their relationship with the organisation.

According to Judge Jody Kollapen the applications, which were all dismissed with costs, were all filed after June 1st, the date the matter was initially set to be heard. The applications came from two branches within the ANC, Zimbabwean-born businessman, Mutumwa Mawere, and radical economic transformation advocate, Nkosentsha Shezi.

Mawere believes that ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte had no authority to take over Magashule’s powers and depose the party’s answering affidavit in response to the former Free State premier.

In May Magashule was suspended as his corruption trial is on-going, however, he is attempting to have the suspension declared unlawful, invalid, and unconstitutional while he also seeks to have the 2017 resolution that requires members to step aside if they have been implicated by the law declared unconstitutional.

-Naadiya Adams