Gangster State

from the provincial throne simply because they thought he would be
disastrous for the province. His conduct after the election certainly
supports this theory.
Lekota’s short term as Free State premier was marred by the ongoing
political feud between the opposing power blocs. Papi Kganare recalled
how Magashule’s camp used ‘dirty tricks’ to undermine the premier at
every opportunity. ‘Magashule and his faction were behind this idea
that Lekota was against QwaQwa [the former homeland in the Free
State’s eastern corner] because he wanted the province’s capital to be
in Bloemfon​tein and not in QwaQwa,’ Kganare explained. ‘They were
fuelling negative sentiments against Lekota in that part of the
province.’
In November 1994 , the Free State ANC finally held its first provincial
elective conference as a unified province. It was held in QwaQwa,
which did not bode well for the southern faction. Lekota, who may
have been lulled into a false sense of security because of the support he
enjoyed from the ANC’s national leadership, did not do much lobbying
ahead of the conference.^5
The results were disastrous for the Lekota camp. Pat Matosa, one of
Magashule’s allies from the north, defeated Lekota by seventy-three
votes for the position of provincial chairperson, while Magashule
became deputy chairperson.^6
There is an oft-repeated misconception that Magashule became chair
in 1994 , to the extent that this inaccuracy now stands as a commonly
accepted fact when political journalists write about him. ‘As the
longest-serving pro​vincial party boss – he has held his position since
1994 – Magashule has served under all of SA’s four presidents, from
Nelson Mandela to Jacob Zuma,’ wrote Marianne Merten in a 2012