Gangster State

with Thoko, these income streams dried up.
I asked several sources familiar with the FDC’s dealings how this
could have happened. They all pointed to Magashule. ‘This is just one
example of Ace’s grip on the FDC,’ said a former MEC and erstwhile
Magashule ally. ‘He appointed its board members and executives and
made sure the money flowed in the right direction.’ Two other sources
who had insight into the deal with Thoko claimed Magashule
influenced the transaction. ‘When the FDC’s handling of this deal was
questioned internally, FDC staff were told to keep out of it, seeing as
the big man was behind it,’ alleged one of them, in reference to
Magashule.
My sources also claimed that Matseke and Osman, the FDC’s
chairper​son and CEO respectively, had deliberately furthered
Magashule’s interests. ‘Ace placed those two at the FDC for exactly
this reason,’ said one. Tiisetso Makhele, Magashule’s spokesperson at
the time, denied the allegation. ‘The premier has not exerted any
pressure on any FDC official to do or not do anything,’ he insisted.
Osman echoed this sentiment. ‘Management was never put under
pressure by anybody and certainly not [by] the premier,’ the FDC chief
executive told me.
In a written response, Matseke admitted that she knew ‘Mr
Magashule and his daughter Ms. Thoko Malembe ... on a personal
basis’, but strongly denied any impropriety. ‘FDC board members get
appointed in accordance with the FDC Act and by the MEC
responsible,’ she stated in response to my questions about Magashule’s
alleged role in high-level appointments. Allegations that she had
influenced the property deal with Thoko were ‘baseless’, she insisted.
‘I, in my capacity as the chairperson of the FDC, only interact with the