POLL | Was Ace Magashule right to call for defiance within the ANC?

Suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule has again sparked debate after he called for defiance during a rally at the residence of former president Jacob Zuma on Sunday.

Magashule addressed Zuma's supporters, who descended on Zuma's homestead in Nkandla to “protect” him from arrest amid his legal woes with the Constitutional Court.

The politician accused certain individuals of wanting to disband the ANC and encouraged his supporters to defy the party's leadership.

“When they expel you, you must still be a member of the ANC. You must not go anywhere. When they disband a branch and a region, you must still remain a branch and a region because you were elected. They can deal with comrade. They must not intimidate you because the intention is to intimidate you.

Magashule told ANC members to listen only to him and his faction.

“Do not be scared, comrades. Please remain resolute. When they disband today, you must tell them, ‘We are a branch’. And when they take you out of parliament, you must remain and say, ‘I am not going anywhere.’

“When we talk one day, you must listen to us because we shall have consulted each and every branch,” he said.

The apex court sentenced Zuma to 15 months' imprisonment last week after he was found guilty of contempt of court.

The former president was due to hand himself over to the Nkandla or Johannesburg central police station on Sunday. If he failed to do so, the police minister and commissioner were obliged to intervene.

This was, however, halted after Zuma applied for the rescission of the court's ruling against him. On Saturday, the court agreed to hear his application on July 12.