Magashule’s apology to NEC will not be sincere

THE ANC is asking Ace Magashule to apologise publicly to President Ramaphosa for issuing him with a letter of suspension after Magashule himself was suspended as ANC secretary-general for defying ANC instructions.

If anyone thought that the circus was only coming to town in October – think again – because it is here – and we all have complimentary tickets to the show.

And the ringmasters are upping their game as they attempt to palliate serious cracks and tears in the big tent.

After his suspension was announced, a belligerent and rather disputatious Magashule went on the offensive against the same comrades who were literally showing him the door.

The wannabe and aspiring boss man of the ANC should have had some prescience as to what was to follow, knowing full well that he had stirred the hornet's nest with his insubordination – but alas, political ego trumps even the best of us.

What purpose would an apology from Magashule serve, if not to satisfy a toxic charade that is being played out by those who lay claim to be the saviours of South Africa?

Would he even mean it? An apology is meant to be a soul-rending and genuine show of remorse for an action that has caused harm or for a "wrong" that has been committed – it espouses a deep sense of regret and calls for some salvation or repentance.

Is this what the ANC is expecting from Magashule, noting that he faces very serious criminal charges that could possibly lead him into a mortar-bounded enclosure for quite some time?

Why should he be asked to apologise when the ANC is buoyed by its constitution that has rules and regulations that guides it with regard to any of its member's misconduct?

The lack of decisiveness by the ANC all throughout its tenure as the ruling party is the very reason we face what we face – kid-glove treatment for the countless miscreants in its fold simply to assuage its base so that it can retain power.

Instead of putting the country first – sadly, the party is the number one priority, and therein lies South Africa's woes.

I am not certain when and how Magashule adopted the sobriquet of “Ace” – but whether he apologises to his equals-turned-masters, it becomes a meaningless exercise in the greater scheme of things, except to masquerade a political party desperately attempting to show that its bosses have clout and that they can "ace an Ace".

Any apology from Magashule will merely be cosmetic and politically expedient because much is at stake, especially power, and perhaps laying one's hands on further public funds, if and when the opportunity presents itself.

All in all, I view all these distracting shenanigans of the ANC in the classical Orwellian light, that is, where the farm disintegrates and leaves only the animals.