Elias Sekgobelo "Ace" Magashule (born 3 November 1959) is a South African politician and former anti-

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

activist who was Secretary General of the

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

(ANC) until his suspension on 3 May 2021. He served as the

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, one of South Africa's nine provinces, from 2009 until 2018, and is known to be influential in the ANC of his home province. An outspoken ally of former President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

, Magashule has been accused of various corrupt activities. He was arrested in November 2020 and awaits trial on charges relating to corruption under a government contract awarded while he was Premier.

Early life

Magashule attended Tumahole Primary School (now Lembede Primary) and Phehellang Secondary School in his hometown of Tumahole, Parys. He gained his nickname, "Ace," on the school soccer field. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Fort Hare University, and after graduating taught at Moqhaka High School in Sebokeng and later at Phehellang, his own former school. In his youth, Magashule was a member of the

Congress of South African Students The Congress of South African Students (COSAS) is an anti-apartheid Student Organisation established in 1979 in the wake of the June 16 Soweto Uprisings in 1976 in South Africa. Background COSAS was formed in June 1979 after the South African Stu ...

and the Tumahole Youth Congress. In 1982, while a student at the Fort Hare, he was arrested following a protest against a visit by

Ciskei Ciskei (, or ) was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people-located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian O ...

Prime Minister Lennox Sebe, and convicted of public violence. His official ANC biography claims that he was charged with

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, but this is contradicted by court records. In the 1980s, he played a role in the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Northern Free State, and participated in organising rent

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict so ...

s in Tumahole. He was detained for his UDF activities in 1985. He went into exile in 1989 and returned in 1991 after the ANC and other anti-apartheid groups were unbanned.

Political career

ANC membership

Magashule was elected Chairperson of the ANC's Northern Free State region in 1991, after the ANC was unbanned, and became Deputy

Chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the newly created Free State provincial branch in 1994. He was elected chairperson of the branch in 1998, and ultimately became the ANC's longest-serving provincial chairperson. During his leadership of the branch, the results of its elective conference were successfully challenged twice in court, once in 2012 and once in 2017, and he has been accused of rigging votes. As provincial chairperson, he was part of what is known as the "Premier League," an unofficial lobbying group within the ANC which was influential during the presidency of

, to whom it was aligned, and which consisted of Magashule,

Supra Mahumapelo Supra Obakeng Ramoeletsi Mahumapelo is a South African politician and musician. He served as the Provincial Secretary of the African National Congress North West Provincial Leadership from 2011 until August 2018. He previously served as Speaker ...

of the North West, and DD Mabuza of

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. ...

. Magashule was directly elected to the party's National Executive Committee in 2007, after having served as an

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

member of the committee for a decade in his capacity as a provincial chairperson. In December 2017, during the party's 54th National Conference, he was elected Secretary General, pursuant to a recount ''–'' his opponents had disputed the result and demanded that 68 "missing" ballots be accounted for. He had run on the slate of the losing presidential candidate,

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma (née Dlamini; born 27 January 1949), sometimes referred to by her initials NDZ, is a South African politician, medical doctor and former anti-apartheid activist. A longstanding member of the African National Con ...

, and was backed by the Premier League.

Career in government

* Served as MEC of Economic Affairs between 1994 and 1996 * Served as MEC of Transport. * Deployed to National Assembly, August 1997. * Served as MEC of Agriculture between 2004 and 2005 * Served as MEC of Sports, Arts and Recreation between 2007 and 2008. * Served as MEC of Safety and Security in 2008. Magashule was appointed Premier of the Free State on 6 May 2009, replacing

Beatrice Marshoff Frances Beatrice Marshoff (born 17 September 1957) was Premier of the Free State from 2004 to 2009. She succeeded Winkie Direko to the position on 22 April 2004, and was replaced by Ace Magashule on 6 May 2009. Marshoff is also a registered nu ...

. As Premier, he initiated Operation Hlasela, a campaign to fight poverty in the Free State, and established a bursary fund for tertiary students in the Premier's office.

Arrest and criminal charges

On 10 November 2020, the

Hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily ...

issued a warrant for Magashule's arrest on 21 charges of corruption, theft, fraud and money laundering. The charges relate to a R255-million contract which the Free State Department of Human Settlements awarded to Blackhead Consulting in 2014, while Magashule was Premier, for the auditing and removal of

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

from homes in the province. The

National Prosecuting Authority The National Prosecution Authority (NPA) is the agency of the South African government responsible for state prosecutions. Under Section 179 of the Constitution and the National Prosecuting Authority Act of 1998, which established the NPA in 199 ...

claims that, following receipt of the contract, Magashule's personal assistant asked a Blackhead subsidiary to make various payments to third parties, either at Magashule's instruction or with his knowledge. These payments included R50,000 for the school fees of the child of an alleged ally of the

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 o ...

, Refiloe Mokoena, previously of the

South African Revenue Service The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the revenue service of the South African government. It administers the country's tax system and customs service, and enforces compliance with related legislation. It is governed by the SARS Act 34 of ...

. The trial of Magashule and the fifteen co-accused has been postponed several times due to applications brought by Magashule, who claims that the charges are politically motivated.

ANC suspension

In early May 2021, the ANC National Working Committee suspended Magashule from the position of ANC Secretary General until the conclusion of the court proceedings. He had been given 30 days to voluntarily "step aside" from his party leadership positions, under the ANC's new

step-aside rule The step-aside rule is an internal policy of the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party of South Africa, which requires members charged with corruption or other serious crimes voluntarily to "step aside" from participation in party and ...

. He refused to accept his suspension and in turn sought to suspend

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...

, the ANC and national President. On 13 September 2021, the Gauteng High Court dismissed Magashule's application to appeal his suspension.

Other corruption allegations

Magashule has been the subject of many journalistic investigations alleging his corrupt activities, and has been accused of participating in

state capture State capture is a type of systemic political corruption in which private interests significantly influence a state's decision-making processes to their own advantage. The term was first used by the World Bank, around the year 2000, to describe ...

during the Zuma presidency. In 2011 Magashule and Mohloua Seoe were linked to a government property deal that was awarded to a company of which both were once co-directors. In November 2017 the winner of a tender from the provincial government Magashule headed alleged that Magashule had personally encouraged him to act as a front for the contract. In January 2018, the

raided Magashule's offices in connection with the

Vrede Dairy Project The Vrede Dairy Project is a dairy project established in 2012 on Krynaauwslust Farm, near the town of Vrede, Free State Province, South Africa. The dairy was established as a public-private partnership with Estina, a Black Economic Empowerment ...

, calling it a "scheme designed to defraud and steal monies" from the Free State Department of Agriculture.

Children

One of his sons, Tshepiso "Gift" Magashule, was employed as a consultant by the

since November 2010, shortly after

Duduzane Zuma Duduzane Zuma (born 20 May 1982) is the son of the former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, and the twin brother of Duduzile Zuma. Biography Zuma came to prominence between 2007 and 2009 when his father became the president of the Africa ...

was brought under their influence. In 2011 Gift joined the Gupta brothers on a three-week holiday to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, and he was later appointed a director in a Gupta company, earning R90,000 a month. Ace Magashule alleged that Gift's link to the Guptas was no secret. In 2015 the Guptas treated Gift and his brother Thato to an eight-day stay in the Oberoi Hotel,

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

. In 2015 a busy Shell fuel station in

Phuthaditjhaba Phuthaditjhaba (formerly Witsieshoek or Qwaqwa) is a town in the Free State province of South Africa. Phuthaditjhaba is a seSotho name that means ''meeting place of the tribes''. It is located on the banks of the Elands River. The fuel station's 60 employees had to be retrenched by their former employer, when it lost its case against the FDC. After she was reunited with her father in 2011, Malembe registered Botlokwa Holdings in 2013, which managed to secure a series of government tenders and property deals from the Free State provincial government. Malembe's trust or company also acquired a

Botshabelo Botshabelo, meaning "a place of refuge", is a large township set up in 1979 by the then apartheid government. It is located 45 km east of Bloemfontein in the present-day Free State province of South Africa. Botshabelo is now the largest ...

fuel station from the FDC for R2.88 million (or R4 million according to the FDC), despite an offer of R5.5 million from another investor.

Associates

Ace Magashule is a long-time friend of Hantsi Matseke, chairperson of the FDC. Matseke owns Maono Construction which has been awarded contracts worth R515 million by government departments and municipalities in the Free State. Magashule has denied influencing any of these. Maono Construction has however subcontracted work to Malembe's Botlokwa Holdings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magashule, Ace African National Congress politicians Premiers of the Free State (province) 1959 births Living people People from Ngwathe Local Municipality University of Fort Hare alumni Members of the Free State Provincial Legislature Corruption in South Africa