South Africa: Ace Heading for the Polls With His Own Party

Ace Magashule has launched his own political party. He claims it will represent the poor and marginalised.

The ousted former ANC secretary general said the party was born out of a bloody internal struggle for the soul of the ANC where centre-left thinking was being overlooked.

The pan-Africanist party is called the African Congress for Transformation (ACT), another breakaway from the infamous ANC faction that supports former president Jacob Zuma.

Magashule listed Zuma and EFF leader Julius Malema as some of the people who were "abused" in the ANC for campaigning for the transformation of the economy.

The former ANC boss accused the Ramaphosa government of failing to act on the findings of the state capture commission.

This is an about-turn for Magashule who accused the state capture commission of lacking credibility and being used to settle political scores.

It was the commission that flagged his alleged involvement in an R255 million asbestos roof replacement scandal while he was premier in the Free State.

Magashule has been joined by disgraced former head of Hawks General Berning Mthandazo Ntlemeza who is now a private detective.

ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula said: "Ntlemeza is an old apartheid special branch who was rewarded handsomely even to the top position of heading the Hawks assisted by the likes of Ace Magashule. He was the master of coverups. I dismissed him for rogueness."

Magashule said the party was the new home of those who felt betrayed and targeted by the current ANC.

"We are here because we have suffered collective betrayal from people who claimed to be our leaders," he told a media briefing in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

It's not clear how many seats Magashule's new outfit could win after the 2024 national general election but an estimated 45000 votes would be required to secure one seat.

This article first appeared on Scrolla

Photo: Flickr