The ANC has come out in strong defense of its secretary general Ace Magashule in the wake of news reports on his alleged involvement in illegal dealings with the media accused of publishing"fake news" and"propaganda".Gangster State: Unraveling Ace Magashule’s Web of Capture
written by investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh, placed him at the"head of a well-organised state-capture network" in the Free State where he was the premier until his election as the governing party's secretary general in December 2017. "How on earth does someone who is one of the most well-known liberation fighters and public figures in South Africa, and whose career spans over decades, even begin to do that when every one of his well-known steps have been open to public scrutiny? Clearly this is ever so much nonsense," the party said in a statement.