Gangster State: Unravelling Ace Magashule's Web of Capture (2019) is a book by

Pieter-Louis Myburgh Pieter-Louis Myburgh is a South African investigative journalist. Myburgh attended Paul Roos Gymnasium before obtaining his BPhil in Journalism at honours level from Stellenbosch University. On 18 March 2016 he was honoured with the 2016 Taco K ...

, a South African investigative journalist. The book is an account of

Ace Magashule Elias Sekgobelo "Ace" Magashule (born 3 November 1959) is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who was Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC) until his suspension on 3 May 2021. He served as the Premier ...

's rise to power as

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

of the Free State and his impact on both the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC) and the South African government.

Synopsis

The book explores Magashule's relationship with the controversial

Gupta family The Gupta family is a wealthy Indian-born family with business interests in South Africa, whose most notable members are brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The family ow ...

and alleges that he was responsible for a number of corrupt activities. It explores the methods used to maintain his premiership and elevate him to the post of secretary-general of the ruling

(ANC) party. It also reveals that he was about to be arrested by the

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

prior to their disbanding in 2009.

Reception

The ''

Daily Maverick ''Daily Maverick'' is a South African daily online publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Its readership is spread across South Africa and the world, with approximately 8 million readers per month. I ...

'' described the likely impact of the book and the corruption case it makes against Magashule as detonating "like a hand-grenade" in South African politics. The ANC made a number of statements regarding the book. It initially criticized the book and accused Myburgh of being a former member of

Stratcom United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear deterre ...

, a disinformation unit in the apartheid-era security police, and spreading anti-ANC propaganda. Two days later the ANC stated that it would only be making a statement on the book after following "due processes" as the ANC secretary-general “had no authority to release a statement” on behalf of the ANC on issues that affected him personally. Following the book's publication, supporters of Magashule destroyed copies of the book while disrupting an event to launch the book in

Sandton City Sandton City is a large shopping mall situated in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built and owned by property development company Rapp and Maister, in partnership with brothers Hilliard and Eli Leibowitz, and was later taken over by ...

. Free State

ANC Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NW ...

(ANCYL) spokesperson Sello Pietersen went on to state that they would organize a

book burning Book burning is the deliberate destruction by fire of books or other written materials, usually carried out in a public context. The burning of books represents an element of censorship and usually proceeds from a cultural, religious, or politi ...

event in Mangaung to destroy copies of the book. Magashule denied any role in the disruption whilst the ANC condemned the book burning event stating that it undermined freedom of expression. Due to security concerns following the Sandton City disruption, the

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

book launch had to be moved to an alternative location, the offices of

CapeTalk CapeTalk is a commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station based in Cape Town, South Africa, broadcasting on AM/MW 567 to Cape Town. The station is also webcast via its website. It claims to be Cape Town's number one news and talk station, offeri ...

References

{{Reflist, 1 South African non-fiction books Political books 2019 non-fiction books Books about the African National Congress Deep politics Corruption in South Africa