A response to Roy Jankielsohn’s undue attack on Dr. Ace Magashule

Dear Mr. Jankielsohn

This open letter is a direct response to the statement issued under your name, on the 4th January 2018, which makes a bold assertion that Hon. Premier, Dr. Ace Magashule should resign and “focus on eating ANC’s cheese”. In this statement, you continue to make some wild accusations, which have never been tested in any court of law, and you present such as facts. You are therefore potentially guilty of defamation of character, but that is not the crux of this letter.

It is common knowledge that whenever you are confronted with a dissenting view, or when you are correctly characterized, you have a tendency to use your ill-gotten money to run to the courts. I wish to advise you to approach as many courts as possible, as your antics are not a threat to me. In fact, you can even approach international courts if you believe this piece is an attack on any of your rights.

On counter-revolution in the current political epoch

In the chapter of his book, Class and Class Struggle, Chinese revolutionary Mao Tse Tung wrote; “After the enemies with guns have been wiped out, there will still be enemies without guns; they are bound to struggle desperately against us, and we must never regard these enemies lightly. If we do nor now raise and understand the problem in this way, we shall commit the gravest mistakes."

In his note to F.E. Dzerzhinsky (1917), Soviet revolutionary Vladimir Lenin posited; “The bourgeoisie, the landowners and all the rich classes are making desperate efforts to undermine the revolution, the aim of which is to safeguard the interests of the workers, the working and exploited masses”.

Let me juxtapose the above to the South African situation. After the dissolution of the South African Defence Force, of which you were a member, and the installation of the democratic government in 1994, there are still enemies without guns, like yourself. Like the Soviet landowners and the rich, your ilk; white landowners, monopoly capitalists and racists, are “making desperate efforts to undermine the revolution”.

Having benefitted directly from Apartheid and colonialism, at the expense of the Black majority, and having fought against the forces of democratic change as an Apartheid soldier, and being a leader of a political party whose sole reason for existence is the defence and restoration of white privilege, I therefore correctly categorize you as a counter-revolutionary.

ANC takes no orders from counter-revolutionaries

Having used the available tools of analysis to declare you a counter-revolutionary, I must simply remind you that ANC is a revolutionary movement which was established to bring about fundamental change to realize shared prosperity, social justice and human solidarity. In attaining this mission, the ANC seeks to better the lives of the people, the majority of whom are African and female, from political and social bondages. I have already proven that you, a counter-revolutionary, is running a campaign which is contrary to this one of the ANC.

The ANC therefore does not have an obligation to take orders from you, or any of the other counter-revolutionaries you are representing. As you have been part of the army, albeit of a reactionary military force, you may know that in any war, no Army General can take orders from an opponent. So the ANC, not you, will take a decision regarding the redeployment of Comrade Magashule.

Ace Magashule shall leave a legacy that not even your grandfathers could match

As someone who was taught, from a very early age, that Blacks are inferior, and whites superior, it must be difficult to accept that a Black person can overturn the legacy of your grandfathers in less than 10 years. We understand your dilemma, but please accept this reality.

We understand how difficult it is to accept that a Black government can, in the space of less than ten years; achieve the following;

- Increased bursary allocations from 129 to about a 1 000 bursaries for students in local and international universities;

- Increased the matric pass rate from 69.4% to 86.1%; the highest rate in the country;

- Opened government offices in various townships, and thereby taking services to the majority of our people, who are mostly Black and poor;

- Decreased the poverty rate by 1.2 percent from 42.2 percent to 41.7%

- More than 80% of public schools benefitting from the no fee policy;

- Reducing the HIV Mother-to-Child Transmission from 7.6% to 1.8%;

- Implementing the insourcing of employees providing security and cleaning services in most government buildings; and

- Increasing the number of township schools which attained a combination of 90% matric passes and 40% Bachelor passes to 38, or 44%. This is a result of rigorous pro-poor education funding, to which you and your party are vigorously opposed.

Conclusion

Quite often, those who are apologists of our unfortunate past, often want to leverage on the names of heroes of the struggle for change in order to become relevant. Mr. Jankielsohn, at no stage will you erase your history and replace it with that of struggle stalwarts like Dr. Ace Magashule. You will go down in the books of history as not only a beneficiary of Apartheid and colonial theft, but also a staunch defender of oppression and of our shameful history.

That in 1987 you were appointed Captain of the Apartheid President Steyn Regiment is but one proof of your dedication to defend Apartheid. You therefore do not have any moral authority to speak about stealing or theft, as you are a beneficiary of such a system. Next time, before you even attempt to utter any word on stealing, you must lobby all other of your ilk to collectively apologize to the people of South Africa, especially to those who lost their lives in the struggle for freedom and democracy, for the political and economic crimes of Apartheid, from which you benefitted so generously.

Tiisetso Makhele is an ANC member and Spokesperson to Free State Premier Hon. Ace Magashule.