For the past 23 years, ANC warlord and Free State Premier Ace Magashule has presided over a medieval dead zone, in which his courtiers ran around getting loaded, while the serfs got properly screwed. Now, Ace has re-upped an ancient political paradox: he has risen to become one of the most powerful people in the land, at the same time as his dreadful little fiefdom is coming under unprecedented scrutiny. With President Jacob Zuma’s head on the block, this is the story of a country in transition, about how the balance of power is shifting under the ANC’s new leadership. And how it still has a long way to go. By RICHARD POPLAK.