MAGASHULE: DUARTE WANTED SOME OF THE ANC ISSUES TO COME OUT ONCE SHE IS NO MORE

Insiders say a handshake and light banter between Ace Magashule and party president Cyril Ramaphosa at Duarte’s home on Sunday meant nothing in the greater battle for the soul of the ANC.

FILE: Ace Magashule and Jessie Duarte at the ANC provincial general council on 28 November 2017. Picture: Twitter/@MYANC

Tshidi Madia |

JOHANNESBURG - The late Jessie Duarte has been remembered as a unifier whose passing some had thought would see an end to an ongoing feud between the party and its suspended secretary general Ace Magashule.

However, insiders say a handshake and light banter between Magashule and party president Cyril Ramaphosa at Duarte’s home on Sunday meant nothing in the greater battle for the soul of the ANC.

Magashule, a once close ally of Duarte, joined those who went to pay their final respects to the 68-year-old politician who succumbed to cancer on Sunday. Ramaphosa delivered the eulogy.

The encounter between Ramaphosa and Magashule could easily be understood to mean a cold war is not at play in the governing party.

But Ramaphosa’s own utterances a the SACP this past week, which declared a full-on war, is at play for control of the organisation.

The threats by Magashule to journalists when he arrived at Duarte’s home say otherwise.

“One of the things she said is that she wanted some of the things about the movement, once she is no more, to come out.”

Magashule’s allies have been holding a series of marches calling for Ramaphosa to step down while Ramaphosa’s supporters have firmly put in place measures to prevent the likes of Magashule from being viable for any leadership positions come December.

At the same time, Magashule is headed to the Constitutional Court challenging his 2021 suspension.

Duarte often found herself in the middle of such friction opting to put the party even before her personal relationships in the organisation.

This week, different ANC leaders will attempt once more to put aside their differences as they gather in her honour to celebrate her life.