Merely eight months since its establishment, cracks have emerged in Ace Magashule's party, the African Congress for Transformation (ACT).
National coordinator Kwezi Toko painted a bleak picture of the party’s internal dynamics in his resignation letter this week.
From centralisation of power in Magashule’s office to allegations of mismanagement, in his letter of resignation Toko laid bare how “a series of systemic issues and challenges” have “compromised” the party’s future prospects.
ACT was launched in Soweto in August 2023 by Magashule after he was expelled from the ANC, a party where he was once secretary-general. But just eight months later, accusations have started flying leading to the resignation of one of its core leaders.
Toko, who says he has been with the party since its inception, has accused Magashule of centralising power in his office to the point of thwarting its potential and blocking any form of accountability and efforts to boost its general capacity.
“And to simplify it, organisationally we do not have a TG or a national organiser as these roles are currently sitting within the president-general's office,” he said.
Toko confirmed to TimesLIVE Premium that he had penned the letter, dated April 22.
To avoid accountability, Toko said in his letter, there is now a “deliberate” avoidance of critical meetings which has crippled decision-making and organisational progress.
Allegations of mismanagement of funds
He also alleged there has been widespread mismanagement of funds in the party which has led to a delay in payments of staff, volunteers and service providers.
“Mismanagement of finances has resulted in unpaid volunteers and insufficient funds for essential organisational activities such as campaign materials and volunteer payments, to name a few. This has significantly impacted our ability to execute our plans effectively.”
According to Toko, the party’s treasurer-general is not competent for the role and has not employed people with the requisite skills in the office.
Efforts to professionalise the organisation, including requesting financial reports from the treasurer-general and ensuring consistent Monday morning leadership meetings for accountability, were met with resistance and sidelined at all material times
— Kwezi Toko
“The TG lacks the necessary capacity to lead our financial operations and to fundraise effectively,” he said.
“This issue was exacerbated by the failure to augment her office with the requisite experience. As a consequence, the organisation is facing financial constraints, with the limited funds primarily allocated towards TG-related expenses.”
The party’s treasurer has also failed to table financial reports, raising concerns about transparency and financial management, he said.
“Efforts to professionalise the organisation, including requesting financial reports from the treasurer-general and ensuring consistent Monday morning leadership meetings for accountability, were met with resistance and sidelined at all material times.
“Resistance to securing a national head office space, resulting in the organisation being run from my home office. You cannot run an organisation of this nature without an office space.”
The party has, as a result of all these issues, failed to fully comply with the Electoral Commission (IEC), according to Toko.
Glitch in IEC system
ACT, along with four other parties, took the IEC to the Electoral Court requesting the reopening of the process of submitting candidates for the National Assembly and provincial legislature for the May 29 election.
The party claimed there was a glitch on the IEC system that led to its failure to submit the full list of its candidates.
The court found against ACT and the other parties.
Toko seems to suggest the party’s troubles with the IEC could have been avoided.
“Reasonable requests for decentralised teams and decentralisation of decision-making, especially during IEC processes, were ignored in favour of centralisation of power, impacting our effectiveness and co-ordination,” he said.
“Essentially a process that needed dozens of people to execute was given to an individual, despite the known capacity issues. These challenges have contributed to a situation where our organisation lacks a clear national structure and faces impending court cases due to inadequate preparations for elections.”
He also cried foul over Magashule’s decision that the party will only hold its elective conference in seven years.
“As a result of these issues and many more that I cannot mention here, it is both in my interest as a self-respecting leader and a professional, and in the interest of the organisation, that I step down from my role as national coordinator.
“In this current status quo where the president-general has the final say in the leaders that serve and all matters of the organisation, the seven years to the elective conference is too long, comrades. I believe a number of these issues can be resolved without the need to wait for an elective conference. It is still within the realm of our president-general to ensure that the organisation is geared for success.”
Though he was leaving his position, Toko said he would remain a member of ACT, but his vote would go to the MK Party.
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