Three months after he was expelled from the ANC, the party’s former secretary general Ace Magashule announced the formation of his new political organisation, the African Congress for Transformation (ACT), on Wednesday.
Magashule announced the launch of the ACT at a press conference in the famed Vilakazi Street — formerly home to both Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela — in Soweto.
“We are a new political party, and we call ourselves ‘a people’s party’ because we are about people and we will rise and fall on behalf of the people,” Magashule said.
“Our political party will exist as a custodian of the aspirations of its people and generations to come. A political party exists — and this political party shall exist — to challenge all forms of oppression, discrimination and injustice. We wish to exist to join our people and partner with them — that’s why we are ‘the people’s party,’” he continued.
Ace Magashule is welcomed by cultural dancers before unveiling his new political party African Congress for Transformation on Vilakazi Street in Soweto on 30 August, 2023. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)
The new party includes several former members of the ANC. Among those present at the ACT launch on Wednesday, was former controversial Hawks boss Berning Ntlemeza who is one of the new party’s members.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Johan Booysen confirms the nightmare reign of Berning Ntlemeza
Magashule said the party wants to act against crime, unemployment, poverty, retrenchments, privatisation, water shedding, load shedding, hunger, famine, femicide, abuse against women, and discrimination.
The ANC’s National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) in May this year, found Magashule guilty of misconduct for contravening ANC rules and its constitution. This related to his unilateral decision back in 2021, to write a letter attempting to suspend Cyril Ramaphosa as party leader, without having the authority to do so.
After Magashule missed the deadline to oppose the party’s NDC findings against him, he got the boot.
The ANC slapped Magashule with permanent expulsion in June.
Read in Daily Maverick: A whimper that shook nothing and no one — Ace Magashule’s ANC expulsion a non-event
His expulsion came amid rumours that he was preparing to start his own political party ahead of the 2024 national elections.
It is unclear if Magashule’s new party has been registered with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC)
Ace Magashule and former Hawks boss Berning Ntlemeza unveiling their new political party African Congress for Transformation on Vilakazi Street in Soweto on 30 August, 2023. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)
‘Bitter struggle’ within the ANC
On Wednesday, Magashule said there has been a “bitter struggle” inside the ANC, “for its soul”.
“There have been contradictions over the years for the hegemony of progressive ideas within the ANC. Certainly, we have seen the oldest organisation moving fast towards the right, and abandoning its centre-left position. The struggle for the soul of the ANC has witnessed the systematic marginalisation of forces to the left,” he said.
Magashule said EFF leader and former president of the ANC Youth League Julius Malema “was expelled for demanding the return of the land” and former president Jacob Zuma was “hunted down like a dog for fighting white monopoly capital”.
“A new ANC cadre that is endorsed by the DA and neo-liberal handlers has emerged. The sacrifices of our people who went into exile and those who died in the apartheid gallows must never be in vain.
“I’m disgruntled because the ANC of Oliver Tambo, the ANC I joined for more than 43 years, is not the ANC we know today,” he said. However, Magashule said there are still many good leaders of the ANC, with whom the new ACT leaders are engaging.
Magashule said he had engaged with former presidents including Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma and Kgalema Motlanthe, along with other provincial leaders of the ANC, and other political leaders and freedom fighters in the past six months.
Ace Magashule in a room packed with members of the media on Vilakazi Street in Soweto on 30 August, 2023.(Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)
The African Congress for Transformation
He said the ACT would be a home for “the weary and politically abused,” and called on the “homeless, the betrayed [and] the fatigued” to find a new political party.
“We are here because we have suffered collective betrayal as a people and a nation at the hands of the people who claim to be our leaders. We have been sold out with a few pieces of silver”, said Magashule.
“I want to say to all South Africans here is a ship of freedom — come along and join us, and all those who are weary and politically abused.”
He said that the leaders of the party come from different political parties and communities, and not just the ANC.
“We are not going to be a party of leaders — we are community leaders, we are activists, and that’s why… when we unveil our leadership, you are going to see people across different people; [people with] disabilities, people with albinism — all people, and all South Africans,” he said.
Magashule is currently facing criminal charges relating to a R255-million Free State asbestos tender, one of the many questionable deals that happened under his premiership in the province. Magashule’s graft trial has been postponed to 2024.
His arrest in connection with the multimillion-rand asbestos matter saw him suspended by the ANC in May 2021, after he refused to step aside voluntarily. DM