After being re-elected as the party’s provincial chair, Magashule took
to the stage and ‘forced’ his fellow party members and invited guests,
including several businesspeople from the Free State, to make
donations to Zuma. ‘It is our duty to support the ANC president, both
morally and financially,’ Magashule told the Sunday Times when asked
if he was trying to buy Zuma’s favour.
The small army of mayors, municipal managers, MECs and
businesspeople in attendance did Magashule proud, donating R 52 000
in cash, which was placed in a black leather bag and presented to
Zuma on stage, and pledging an additional R 1. 4 million. The awkward,
crude gesture apparently had some senior party members squirming
with embarrassment.
Although Zuma refused to say whether Magashule would be the next
Free State premier after the incident, judging by subsequent events it
did not harm Magashule’s chances.^7
At the end of 2008 , Magashule became a key figure in the narrative
about Zuma’s supposed persecution at the hands of the National
Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Scorpions, South Africa’s former
elite corruption-fighting unit.
It was alleged that then Free State Scorpions boss Shadrack Sibiya
had wanted to arrest Magashule before the provincial conference in
July to prevent him from once again being elected chair. In an instant,
Magashule was elevated to the level of fellow martyr in the ongoing
battle between the Scorpions, who were accused of pushing a political
agenda, and dodgy ANC leaders like Zuma.
‘We have been saying that the Scorpions have positioned themselves
to persecute leaders of the ANC but nobody listened to us,’ then ANC