Johannesburg - President Cyril Ramaphosa, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula, and Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa have remained mum on allegations of running a secret plot against former ANC president Jacob Zuma and secretary general Ace Magashule in 2019.
The alleged plot of a “special operation on former state president Jacob Zuma and former ANC SG Ace Magashule” by Ramaphosa has been met with criticism by opposition political parties.
This comes after a Sunday paper revealed that Ramaphosa, using Kodwa and Mbalula, allegedly ran a covert operation to monitor Zuma and Magashule.
Responding to the article via social media, United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said he was not surprised by the revelations.
“These hired guns have contributed to the political uncertainty we are witnessing in this country.
“No wonder this compromised chairperson is so stubborn about recusing himself.
“We are waiting for the details of a meeting with one of the IEC commissioners in order to see the extent of the rot,” Holomisa said in reference to the involvement of Section 194 hearing chairperson Richard Dyantyi in the scandal.
According to the Sunday publication, the allegation is contained in a disclosure document that was submitted to Parliament last week.
The protected document was alleged to have been submitted by advocate Winston Erasmus, who is a former ANC researcher.
The document implicates Kodwa and Mbalula, as well as ANC member and committee chairperson of the inquiry into suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office, Dyantyi.
It is reported that the secret plot named “Special Operation” targeted Zuma and Magashule ahead of the 2019 general elections following allegations that the pair had initiated an elaborate fightback plan after the 2017 Nasrec conference of the ANC, which delivered Ramaphosa as ANC president.
Mbalula, Kodwa, and Magashule were also not available for comment at the time of going to print.
According to the publication, Erasmus said he was instructed not to mention any of the operations of the special operation. “I was requested to observe the strictest confidentiality because they suspected that ANC secretary general (Mbalula) was colluding with small opposition parties.”
It is reported that Ramaphosa worked with Kodwa in this operation after Ramaphosa took over the operations of the country’s state security agency, while Dyantyi was charged with meeting Kodwa and implementing agents of the special operation in Cape Town in May 2019.
The Star