Magashule speech takes aim at Reserve Bank, again

ANC secretary general Ace Magashule on Thursday took on the SA Reserve Bank yet again in a prepared speech for the memorial service of ANC stalwart Lesiba Maphoto in Polokwane.

The prepared speech – which was posted on the My ANC Facebook page and which made several references to the SARB – differed, however, to his actual address.

In the prepared speech, Magashule condemned “gatekeepers” whom he said censured him from questioning the structure of the South African economy when he made remarks about the ownership and mandate of the SARB. He also said he saw no reason why the governing party’s supposed plans to nationalise the Reserve Bank and expand its mandate should be vehemently opposed.

But in a video recording of his speech, which was also posted on the same Facebook page, Magashule digressed from the prepared version and did not reference the Reserve Bank by name.

In June, Magashule briefed reporters in Johannesburg on an ANC National Executive Committee lekgotla, where he claimed the party’s highest decision making body between conferences agreed that the SARB’s mandate would be expanded.

These remarks elicited strong denials from Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni and head of ANC sub committee on economic transformation Enoch Godongwana, who said the governing party never agreed to this.

Magashule had to eat his words within days after President Cyril Ramaphosa reaffirmed the central bank’s mandate. But in the prepared speech, Magashule took direct aim at the criticism that had been levelled against him.

‘Whitewashed resolutions’

“It honestly cannot be that when you ask the simple question of why the majority of the ownership of our Reserve Bank is in the hands of foreigners, that the Rand gets manipulated by the capitalist oligarchy and their servants, and yes, indeed, it cannot be that when we ask a simple question of how many mines are in the hands of the majority of the people of our country, that we are told our statements must not bring uncertainty to the rating agencies,” said Magashule.

Magashule said there is a growing perception that the ANC is divided between those who demand radical economic transformation, and those who want to be the “gatekeepers of the compromises of the sunset clause”.

“[There are] those who want the status quo to remain. It is unprecedented in the history of our Movement, to witness the countless efforts to undermine and whitewash the Resolutions taken by the 54th National Conference of the ANC,” Magashule said.

Magashule said the branches of the ANC agreed at the party’s 2017 Nasrec conference on the need to accelerate the process for the radical economic transformation of our society. He said to ignore the branches would destroy the party.