Magashule lost a key battle insiders say when he broke ranks a few days earlier with the party's top six officials – of which he is one – and denied their right to instruct the party caucus in Parliament to vote with the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) by endorsing a multi-party investigation into pro-Zuma Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane...

Earlier this month Magashule told ANC MPs they should not vote with the opposition Democratic Alliance to impeach the Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane a hard-core supporter of Zuma who appointed her for a seven-year term in 2017...

Ramaphosa is also likely to take comfort from the case against Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane the Zuma appointee and fierce opponent of Ramaphosa who faces a perjury trial in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court in January (AC Vol 61 No 25 Ace shuffles the deck again)...

Tarnished allyAnother setback for the Magashule/Zuma camp is a major court repudiation of the Zuma-supporting Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane who was appointed for the statutory period of seven years just before Zuma was 'recalled' as president by the ANC (AC Vol 55 No 11 A loyalist cabinet & Vol 60 No 11 Long shadow of corruption over new order)...

The former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane another close ally of Zuma has previously claimed these statements showed evidence of money laundering (AC Vol 60 No 11 Long shadow of corruption over new order)...

Ramaphosa's election financing was the subject of an unsuccessful attempt by the then Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to link him to money-laundering and accepting money from some dubious sources which could exert undue influence over the President and misleading Parliament (AC Vol 60 No 15 Zuma blusters at Zondo)...

Gcale is being groomed to replace Busisiwe Mkhwebane the Public Protector appointed by and reportedly still loyal to Zuma...

However the official that Zuma appointed as South Africa's Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane controversially cleared Magashule in her 2018 report on the investigation of the Vrede scheme blaming lower-level officials for corruption...

While prosecutions are awaited the Zuma faction has scored against the President especially in attacks by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane on Gordhan and on Ramaphosa himself who she asserts lied to Parliament about donations to the election campaign funds...