African National Congress bigwigs instructed the rank and file earlier this week to desist from displaying party paraphernalia if they chose to congregate in Bloemfontein in support of secretary general Ace Magashule ahead of his court appearance yesterday on corruption charges.
But, for the loyal – and the entrepreneurial – the opportunity was clearly too good to miss.
From early yesterday, stallholders had set up for business in the Rose Garden near the courts, selling ANC-brand caps and T-shirts. One even sported a branded canopy advertising the ANC’s commitment to advance to the ‘second phase of the transition’.
The following tweet by one of News24’s team in Mangaung says it all
On Wednesday, ANC national office bearers issued a statement discouraging Magashule supporters from wearing party regalia.
One among the more defiant supporters of the former Free State Premier was uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association spokesperson Carl Niehaus.
He was quoted by TimesLive as saying; ‘As ANC members, we buy these T-shirts with our money. We can wear them, and we will wear them.’ He said he would personally attend ‘in the uniform of uMkhonto weSizwe’.