[imagesource:  Gallo Images / Sunday Times / Alon Skuy]

Ace Magashule has proven, time and time again, that he is not to be trusted.

The Free State community left high and dry by the Vrede Dairy Farm scandal will vouch for that, and now at least 21 students in Turkey are facing the consequences of Magashule abandoning ship.

The students, studying at Istanbul’s Bahcesehir University, were evicted from the Bogazici student dorm after the suspended ANC secretary-general’s foundation failed to pay the rent.

Magashule’s foundation had promised to sponsor their studies, but now officials from the South African embassy in Ankara have been forced to pay out of their own pockets to cram the students into small two-bedroom apartments.

Some were left sleeping in a park, reports The Sunday Times:

A mission report from the embassy, dated September 5, states that Magashule’s promises to pay the owner of the private Bogazici Student Dormitories “were unfulfilled” and that it was “concerned that this matter will attract media attention and put South Africa in a bad light”.

“In May, the Mission warned of an impending costly and embarrassing consular situation … For the students to find themselves in the streets is due to the continued empty promises by the Magashule Foundation,” the report says. There were also “unconfirmed reports that some students were … now renting an apartment which they fund through prostitution”.

The students have already finished three years worth of study, meaning they’re just one year from completing their degrees and are desperate.

Being tossed out on the street is bad enough, but the idea of turning to prostitution to fund the rest of their studies is nightmarish.

One student spoke of park security guards showing them the warmest areas to sleep in. Even those fortunate enough to sleep in apartments are worried, as the bookings end today.

The students, who said they had been recruited during ANC campaigns, arrived in Turkey in 2017. One, who asked not to be named, said he had approached Magashule for help to study at university because he couldn’t afford to do so but had good marks.

Another said Magashule “met my parents on the campaign trail and promised them he would help me go to university”.

Magashule is particularly fond of Bahcesehir University. It handed him an honorary doctorate for being a “revolutionary leader” in 2017, saying at the time that he has “worked throughout his life to eradicate poverty through education in the South African province of the Free State”.

Again, you might want to ask those who suffered during his time as premier of the province about that.

Mehmet Kara, the owner of the Bogazici Student Dormitories, has clearly never Googled Ace’s name before:

“What kind of people are these? They make you feel like they are your friend, they laugh with you, and they delay and delay for three years,” said Kara. “I believed that he was a big guy in the government.”

It’s the same thing they do with voters, Mehmet.

Mehmet said that the last time he spoke with Ace, the latter said he was prioritising the university fees and paying the students’ stipends.

Unsurprisingly, Ace didn’t respond to multiple attempts to reach him for comment.

He doesn’t care about these students, in the exact same way the party which has now suspended him doesn’t care about its supporters.

[source:sundaytimes]