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Pledging his party loyalty, former president is unfazed by claims that he plotted against Ramaphosa
The deeply divided ANC received a welcome boost to its toughest election campaign, with former president Jacob Zuma pledging that even his supporters will back the ANC because they vote for the party and not an individual.
Just days before Wednesday’s election – and with polls showing a decline in ANC support – Zuma told City Press in an interview that the priority for the organisation’s members and supporters is to keep the party in power.
Zuma’s exhortation comes as explosive claims were made in an affidavit before court that he and ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule had played a clandestine role in the formation of Mzwanele Manyi’s African Transformation Movement (ATM).
In the past week, an Ipsos poll showed the ANC’s support to be at 56.92% nationally, while the Institute of Race Relations had the ANC as low as 49.2%.
The party scored 62.15% in 2014.
The ANC will wrap up its election campaign with the traditional show-of-strength Siyanqoba rally at the 62 000 seater Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, where its leaders are expected to stage a show of unity.
Across town the EFF, which is expected to grow largely at the expense of the ANC, will pack its supporters into Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
The DA wrapped up its campaign yesterday with an almost concert-style rally in Dobsonville, Soweto.
ZUMA TO THE RESCUE
The former president, who was on the campaign trail in KwaZulu-Natal this week, sought to dispel widespread speculation that his supporters, especially in his populous home province, would shun the ANC because of the way President Cyril Ramaphosa prematurely ejected him from the Union Buildings last February.
“ANC people are going to vote, and supporters of the ANC are going to vote. In the ANC we vote the party, we do not vote for individuals. I think the ANC voters are aware of this,” he said.
Zuma said ANC voters would always be ready to keep the ANC in power. “They would indeed be ready to keep the ANC in power, and to do so, they have got to vote the ANC ... People could have said one or two things, like anybody else who might have a grievance or dissatisfaction, but when it comes to the real doing, we will put the ANC first.
“I cannot even say they would surprise people. They would do the usual: vote ANC into power.”
Zuma added that he had accepted his ousting last year as “it was at the wish of the ANC whether I completed the term or not”.
“It [the party] had said I would finish by this month, but it decided in the process that I should finish a while back, more than a year now. That was the decision of the ANC, which I respect. If you are deployed or tasked, those who task you or deploy you will decide whether you should reach the final end or not.”
He said that once the ANC said he should step down, “I voluntarily resigned. No problem. That is what we do as cadres of the ANC.”
ANC head of elections Fikile Mbalula said perceptions and rumours around Zuma’s loyalty were “fuelled, including by some agent provocateurs within our ranks, so that people must not vote for the ANC nationally”.
COURT TOLD ZUMA AND ACE BEHIND ATM
While Zuma pledged his loyalty and Magashule appealed for unity in the ANC, new court papers have implicated them in the formation of the ATM.
In his application before the Electoral Court in Bloemfontein, Buyisile Ngqulwana, general secretary of the SA Council of Messianic Churches in Christ (SACMCC), says the two men played a role in the ATM’s formation.
Ngqulwana’s SACMCC is seeking to deregister the ATM as a political party. The council alleges that the ATM’s founders hijacked the idea, logo and constitution of the African Transformation Congress (ATC), which failed to qualify for registration with the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC). The commission had ruled that too many parties used the word ‘congress’.
Ngqulwana alleges that he was “informed” that it was Magashule who advised that the word “congress” in the ATC’s name be changed to “movement” to get the IEC’s approval. “It was done, and no questions were asked by the IEC thereafter, as indicated by [Magashule] that he would smooth the way through. For all intents and purposes, the ATM was a proxy vehicle for [Zuma] and [Magashule] going forward.”
Ngqulwana said the SACMCC was formed in the aftermath of the ANC’s conference at Nasrec in 2017, when Ramaphosa’s opponents were mapping out a plan to create a new political party to weaken him and defend Zuma. The original ATC grew out of this process.
Ngqulwana said he had held several meetings with Zuma in Nkandla and Magashule at Luthuli House regarding the launch of the churches’ council, as well as with ANC KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Sihle Zikalala.
Following the meeting with Magashule, he said, “I was instructed to travel to the Free State for a meeting with the new premier, Sisi Ntombela, to engage on various discussions.”
Zikalala said Ngqulwana’s claims were “pure lies and fabrication of a high degree”.
On Friday, Zuma said he was unfazed by accusations that he was part of a plot with Magashule to topple Ramaphosa: “I have been close with Ace and we have had good relations all the time. I think they strengthened with time, given the fact that he became a leader in the province and is now at the helm of the organisation.”
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said there seemed to be a well-orchestrated plan afoot to isolate certain ANC leaders, including Magashule, from the collective.
“Such a divisive ploy will never find expression as the entire leadership of the ANC is united and focused on the immediate task of electioneering,” said Mabe.
“It is malicious, misplaced, derogatory and undermining to suggest that our own comrades can participate in the sanctioning of alternative political formations.”
FOREIGN POWERS ARE BUGGING US
Rifts in the top six have been exacerbated by claims and counterclaims of bugging.
City Press has learnt that during a meeting on Monday at Luthuli House, the ANC’s top six discussed claims by Magashule, Deputy President David Mabuza and chairperson Gwede Mantashe that they were being bugged.
Magashule was the first to make the claim publicly, going as far as saying that state institutions were being used against him, his deputy Jessie Duarte and other leaders. This was seen as a direct attack on Ramaphosa, who runs the state.
In a bid to close ranks and silence the divisive issue, the top six shifted their focus to possible involvement by foreign intelligence powers who were unhappy about the ANC’s positions on Venezuela and Israel, and its close ties to China.
Luthuli House insiders said Mabuza – who declined to comment – put Magashule’s matter on the table, saying it was disturbing and that Magashule was justified to be upset.
Insiders said Mantashe then followed, saying that while he was also worried about being spied on, it would be better to concentrate on the elections and deal with the matter later.
Mantashe said on Friday that he took it as “normal” that his phone calls and activities were being monitored.
“Everybody suspects that they are being bugged, but it is a matter for the relevant state authorities to deal with. If there is something that they must do, then they will deal with it.”
Magashule told City Press that the top six had discussed the spying saga, adding that he also reported the matter to the inspector-general of intelligence for investigation.
Magashule said: “In any revolution, there is counter-revolution and South Africa is at that stage. We will address all other issues after elections.”
City Press understands that a preliminary intelligence report, seen by the ANC, warns that foreign intelligence services have been intercepting the calls of some ANC leaders.
A member of the ANC’s national executive committee said: “There is the issue of a rogue grouping within local intelligence, but in the main, concerns are around foreign intelligence.
“You must remember that we have made some decisions that are unpopular with the West, over things such as Venezuela and Israel.”
MBALULA TACKLES ACE
Mbalula said it was unfortunate that Magashule went public on the spying allegations.
“The rule of law and the state is the only qualified body to deal with any allegations of spying on any individual.”
However, added Mbalula, “as the ANC, we are firm that no state organs must be used in politics”.
“They must be used to defend the nation and keep our country [safe].”
However, Mabe leapt to the defence of Magashule, saying that the secretary-general should never be isolated from the leadership collective of the party.
Acting ANC spokesperson Dakota Legoete said that there might even be entities or agencies from other countries who “might be intervening over our sovereignty of South Africa”.
SHOE-STRING BUDGET
Mbalula also said that the ANC’s campaign this year was limited by financial resources, “which made it difficult to deploy senior leaders in all provinces because the party did not have enough money”.
“We have faced some challenges of resources in the campaign. We did not have enough money for the campaign.”
But this, he said, had been rectified.
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