Gangster State

very angry,’ she told the Daily News. ‘I’m seeking legal advice on how
to clear my name in this regard. I’m being labelled a fraudster. I feel
my name has been abused.’^2
The inclusion of Nozuko Mbalula’s name in the court application is
interesting in light of her husband’s strained relationship with
Magashule. The beef goes back to 2012 , when Mbalula aligned himself
with the Free State ANC’s Regime Change group. This faction sought
first to unseat Magashule as provincial chair before backing the anti-
Zuma slate at the Mangaung conference at the end of that year.^3 The
group ultimately failed, and the movement fizzled out in 2013.
Nevertheless, the hostility between Magashule and Mbalula continued
to build well into 2017. Not long after his move to the police portfolio,
Mbalula took aim at Magashule in one of his famously belligerent
tweets. ‘Ace Magashule is a definite no no no, the man will finish what
is remaining of our movement. He will kill it,’ Mbalula tweeted in June
2017 , after it became clear that the premier would run for the position
of ANC secretary-general at the end of that year. Mbalula’s animosity
was probably heightened by the recent court action implicating his wife
in the Free State housing scandal.
I have always suspected that the inclusion of Nozuko Mbalula’s name
in the court papers was an attempt by the Magashule administration to
settle a political score with her husband. My theory is supported by
further compelling indications that the department used its court
application to help fight Magashule’s battles.
Of the 93 corporate structures listed as respondents, the department
included the names of the managers or owners of only four. Of the four
people named, three can be linked to political squabbles with
Magashule. While the four entities are listed as respondents, they are,