Mzansi ain’t buying Ace Magashule’s ‘fake tweet’ claims

South Africa is not buying ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule's "fake tweet" claims.

Last week Magashule told the media that the party had agreed to expand the Reserve Bank's mandate to focus on development and job creation.

PODCAST: Sunday Times Politics Weekly - “The President owes us an explanation”

For more episodes, click here.

Subscribe: iono.fm | Spotify | Apple Podcast | Pocket Casts | Player.fm

However, finance minister Tito Mboweni took to Twitter to contradict Magashule and was backed by the ANC's economic transformation head, Enoch Godongwana, who also disputed that any decision had been taken regarding the central bank.

On Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa released a statement reaffirming the mandate of the Bank and said a public spat over the role of the central bank was "not helpful".

However, minutes after the statement was issued, Magashule contradicted it, posting on Twitter that the party's NEC lekgotla had resolved to expand the mandate beyond price stability to include employment and growth.

The original tweet has since been deleted and Magashule has insisted that the second tweet issued minutes after Ramaphosa's statement on Thursday was a fake tweet from a fake account, adding that his account was hacked.

Former president Jacob Zuma also took to Twitter to comment, appearing to back Magashule. 

Reactions: 

Many accused Magashule of lying and suggested that someone needed to brief him on how Twitter works. 

Here is a snapshot of some of the top reactions: