Gangster State

thereby retook control of the ANC in the Free State.^26 However, their
dominance would be short-lived, as would Matsepe-Casaburri’s stint as
premier.
Magashule, meanwhile, was supposed to become an ordinary member
of Parliament (MP), but he was set adrift in political limbo pending the
outcome of the probes into his former department’s affairs. He was
effectively cast into the political wilderness, and it was up to the ANC’s
top leadership to decide his fate.
In June 1997 , the ANC’s National Working Committee (NWC) held a
meeting to discuss the findings of the reports compiled by the AG and
the public accounts committee. Among those present were Mandela,
ANC chairperson Jacob Zuma and acting secretary-general Cheryl
Carolus. Despite the AG’s grave assessment of Magashule’s conduct
and evidence of his reckless approach to the management of public
monies, as highlighted by the public accounts committee, the NWC
gave him a free pass. They maintained that Magashule had not been
found guilty of any impropriety and announced that he would take up
his seat in Parliament when it reconvened in August that year.^27
The ANC’s national conference at the end of 1997 brought about
changes to the organisation’s constitution, some of which affected the
mechanics of the provincial structures. As a result, the Free State and
some other provinces had to convene fresh provincial conferences in
1998.
In August 1998 , the party’s provincial membership gathered at the
Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein. This time,
Magashule was elected as the ANC’s new chair in the province.^28
Matsepe-Casaburri did not even secure a nomination from the
branches.