Johannesburg – Suspended and outgoing ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule surprisingly showed up at the Nasrec Expo Centre where the 55th party’s national elective conference is taking place.
He told the media earlier that it was up to the delegates to fight his suspension case so that he could take part in the conference.
Magashule was placed on suspension in May last year after he refused to step aside as directed and since then, he has not been able to take part in any ANC activity.
WATCH: Suspended ANC secretary-general, Ace Magashule, says the party electoral committee sent him a letter saying he had been nominated to contest for a position in the NEC, but it later said he had been disqualified. @IOL pic.twitter.com/CpmNP7MTGb
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) December 16, 2022
This was after he was charged with corruption in relation to the asbestos corruption case of 2012 which happened while he was the premier of the Free State.
He has lost two court battles aimed at overturning his suspension of the party, with one court saying the ANC had the right to impose its own rules to govern its members.
But on Friday Magashule showed up and briefly spoke to the media outside Nasrec where he revealed that the party electoral committee, chaired by Kgalema Motlanthe, had sent him a letter saying he had been nominated to contest for a position in the NEC.
However, the committee later said that after a vetting process he had been disqualified from the contest – but no specific reason was given.
JUST IN: Suspended ANC SG, Ace Magashule, is within Nasrec where the national elective conference is taking place. He says the party electoral committee sent him letter saying he had been nominated to contest for a position in the NEC, but later said he has been disqualified.
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) December 16, 2022
To back up his claim, he produced the letter from the committee and the form he signed to acknowledge that he accepted the nomination.
Asked whether he would take part in the conference, he said it was up to the delegates to fight his case so that he could be allowed to come in.
“I respect the national conference and I respect the programme of the African National Congress.
“I think it’s up to the delegates … I am around (the corner),” Magashule said.
Magashule also said he did not believe that the official nomination statistics from the ANC in the Free State were accurate.
He said in his own region, Fezile Dabi, Cyril Ramaphosa had been nominated by five branches. As such, the members who were demanding more data on nominations had a case to be answered.
Meanwhile, the conference has been delayed after a registration glitch with the device used to verify and register delegates.
The starting time has now been moved from 8am to 2pm and delegates are now out on lunch within the expo centre.