Ace Magashule should look in the mirror if he wants to see a charlatan, opposition party Cope advised the ANC secretary general following his attack on ANC NEC member Derek Hanekom.

After EFF leader Julius Malema publicly stated that Hanekom had met with his party to discuss removing former president Jacob Zuma through a motion of no confidence, and Hanekom confirmed that he had met with EFF secretary general Godrich Gardee, Magashule released a no-holds-barred press release on behalf of the ANC late on Wednesday evening.

In the press release, he referred to Hanekom as an “EFF sleeper” and a “charlatan”. 

Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem on Friday said in a statement that the party regarded Hanekom as a patriotic South African who put the interest of the country first, above party interests.

“It was not only Hanekom who was concerned about what was happening in our country. All of us were involved in talks with different political parties and civil society organisations, because the country was captured by the Guptas. Zuma had handed power over to this family,” Bloem said. 

“We, as a party, condemn the irresponsible and recklessness (sic) attacks on Hanekom by the ANC secretary general Ace Magashule. 

“Magashule should look in the mirror and he will see a true charlatan. He must also look around him and he will realise that he is surrounded by a bunch of charlatans.”

Hanekom, then still serving in Zuma’s Cabinet, was one of the first ANC NEC members to openly challenge the president when, in November 2016, he brought a motion of no confidence in Zuma to the ANC NEC – to remove Zuma as the country’s president, not the ANC’s president. The motion didn’t succeed.

Hanekom is an ally of State Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, who has been the subject of attacks from the EFF since late last year. 

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