He said he advised them that such would send a wrong message to the public.
Suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule has said when he made his first court appearance in November 2020 the entire ANC top 6 wanted to come to court and offer their support.
He said after he received the sheet detailing his charges he held a meeting with the top 6 and the officials commented that “the charges are frivolous”.
“The public doesn’t know that in that meeting the officials have agreed that the charges are frivolous and flimsy,” Magashule said, adding that that is when the top 6 officials told him they thought of coming with him in court to offer support.
“I said ‘No, it will be wrong if a President and a deputy president come to court’.
“So comrade Jessie and comrade Paul were supposed to [come] to court and I think comrade national chair [Gwede Mantashe] raised the matter that there is a resolution that the NEC has taken that if we go there we go as individuals and we collectively agreed that let’s not send wrong signals out there. Any member any individual has a right to go to the case,” Magashule during his exclusive interview with the SABC’s Samkele Maseko and Ntebo Mokobo.
He was referring to his court appearance on 13 November 2020 at the Mangaung Magistrates Court which saw large numbers of ANC members and leaders in attendance to offer him support.
During his address on that day he lambasted “spies” within the ANC, saying they were the ones who playing roles in his troubles with the law.
Magashule is charged with failing to report corruption while he was Premier of Free State when over R250 million was spent by the provincial government in that province to remove asbestos roofing. The homes still have asbestos roofs despite the millions paid to a tenderprenuer who is currently in court over the matter.
The state charges that instead of reporting the issue to law enforcement agencies, Magashule went to the tenderprenuer to ask for donations towards the educational fees of students sent to study in Cuba.
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Magashule said the NPA doesn’t have a charge against him and his lawyers have been asking the NPA to give them the charge under which their client is appearing in court.
“I’m charged with a fabricated charge, something called ‘oversight’,” he said, claiming he is being singled out for fighting for economic transformation of black South Africans.
He was booted out of a virtual NEC meeting when it started Saturday morning 8 May 2021.
His ally NEC member Bongani Bongo, also suspended, was removed later on.
They are currently appealing their suspensions.
(edited by ZK)
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