ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule says his "legacy" in the party will be the implementation of the 2017 Nasrec resolutions, including nationalising the South African Reserve Bank and allowing for land expropriation without compensation.
Magashule has put the task on his shoulders to see that these and other resolutions taken at the party's last national conference are implemented by its members in government and Parliament.
Earlier this month, when he briefed the media on the Reserve Bank following a lekgotla of the party's National Executive Committee (NEC), Magashule was accused of attacking the bank's independence and destabilising the rand, which fell sharply soon after his comments.
Magashaule said the NEC "directed the ANC government to consider constituting a task team to explore quantity easing (sic) measures to address intergovernmental debts to make funds available for developmental purposes". He meant to say quantitative easing.
Several ANC heavyweights, including ANC economic transformation head Enoch Godongwana and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, publicly disagreed with Magashule's comments and his characterisation of how the discussion unfolded at the lekgotla.
The bank's governor, Lesetja Kganyago, went as far as to say "the barbarians were at the gates of Sarb" without mentioning Magashule.
Two days after Magashule first made his comments, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa issued a statement saying the NEC lekgotla "emphasised the policy positions of the ANC on the independence and role of the SARB as set out in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa [which is] protecting 'the value of the currency in the interest of balanced and sustainable economic growth'".
He also used his state of the nation address to reaffirm the bank's independence
Speaking to News24 in a wide-ranging exclusive interview on Friday, Magashule said that as a full-time NEC deployee and the driver of the engine of the organisation he will ensure the ANC follows through on what its branches want.
"We have no choice; it’s time for a wake-up call. Our people no longer want slogans, all of us must wake up. All of us must be more radical in implementing ANC decisions," said Magashule.
"We are left with just three and a half years," he added, referring to the remainder of the leadership's term before the party's next national conference in 2022.
Magashule's "radical" implementation comments come in the same week that former ANC president Jacob Zuma, seen as a key Magashule ally, accused some of the party's current leaders of toning down their messages on radical economic transformation to appease big business and foreign investors. Zuma didn't name any specific leaders.
The former Free State premier, who said he missed Zuma’s comments, insisted all the top six leaders were in agreement on radical transformation, saying they only failed to agree on how this could be achieved.
"We must strictly adhere and implement the resolutions. As the SG, I am going to make sure we implement the resolutions,” reiterated Magashule.
Magashule said "this time around”"he, his deputy, Jessie Duarte, and other full-time NEC members, including Jeff Radebe and Malusi Gigaba, who oversee policy, and Nomvula Mokonyane and those responsible for implementation will be vigorously monitoring how party members deployed to government perform when it comes to executing the resolutions.
In December 2017, ANC delegates resolved to amend section 25 of the Constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.
"As the SG, that is the legacy I am going to leave; I am going to make sure we implement the resolutions," said Magashule.
"It’s a five-year term. Don’t ask me why we haven’t done so this year; it’s happening gradually,” he continued.
He said as the secretary-general it was also his role to ensure ANC members in the state executive tow the party line.
Magashule said the ANC’s leadership will also have to explain how its been working towards implementing the 2017 resolutions when the party heads to a national general council next year. It's at that gathering that the party evaluates its performance and whether leaders are still working towards the resolutions they adopted at the national conference.
It's at this conference that Magashule could put pressure on Ramaphosa, using the gathering's mandate to pose difficult questions of the state president and his executive.
The secretary general denied that ANC leaders would adopt a soft approach to the resolutions, as Zuma suggested in Johannesburg on Thursday evening.
"I don’t think we are going to be softies. I don’t think we will satisfy everybody, but we will take on board and work for the working class,” said Magashule.