President Jacob Zuma’s public rebuke of ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema was “not good enough”, DA leader Helen Zille said in a statement on Sunday.
“It is a good thing that President Jacob Zuma has at last found his voice and issued a statement calling Julius Malema to order,” she said.
“But it is not good enough for Zuma to say this is an internal matter which the ANC will deal with as it sees fit.”
Zille said the fact that Malema had defied a court ruling and showed contempt for the “constitutional guarantee of freedom of the media” was not a private ANC matter.
“President Zuma has stated that the ANCYL is not an independent entity,” she said.
Zuma lashes Malema
“If Julius Malema is re-elected to lead the ANC Youth League, it will show precisely where they stand and how they regard the Constitution of our country. The public wants to hear clearly what action is contemplated to call Julius Malema to order.”
President Jacob Zuma on Saturday lashed out at the conduct of Malema, criticising the youth league leader for defying the court ruling which banned the singing of the “dubul’ ibhunu” (shoot the boer) song.
He also condemned Malema for his treatment of a British journalist during a press conference and for the statements he made about the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) after his visit to Zimbabwe.
Zuma said he had spoken to Malema by telephone about what happened in Zimbabwe and how he had treated the reporter.
Malema called BBC journalist Jonah Fisher a “bastard” and an “agent” before booting him out of the media briefing on April 8.
“We reiterate that leaders should think before they speak, as their utterances have wider implications for the country,” Zuma told the media in Durban.
“The relevant structure in the ANC will look at what has happened to see if the line has been crossed. If the line has been crossed, there will be consequences,” he said.
He said the ANC had called for Ayesaba Amagwala [The Cowards are Scared] not to be sung because the organisation respected the court ruling.
“When the ANC has made such a statement, it is totally out of order for us to continue as if such a statement was not made,” he said.
Zuma said that in the current environment, the song could be misunderstood by those not familiar with the context and content of ‘our struggle”.
“We must recognise the role of the judiciary as the final arbiter in disputes in society,” he said.
He said there were procedures that one could follow to challenge court decisions.
“Defiance of these procedures should not be tolerated. It would make mockery of our judicial system.” – Sapa