African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema on Tuesday vowed to ensure that President Jacob Zuma would never ”surrender” to the influence of communists.
Malema addressed a press conference of the National Press Club in Pretoria, outlining how the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Young Communist League (YCL) have a carefully constructed plan to discredit Malema and ensure that their leaders take over the ANC.
He complained about the ANC’s lack of decisive action after an incident at the SACP special congress last week when he was booed off stage and not allowed to address delegates.
After leaving the congress, Malema said he would talk to Zuma about the incident.
”I’m not a cry baby, I didn’t run to him to complain, I gave him a report,” he told reporters at the press conference.
Malema said Zuma made it clear during his address to the SACP congress that he does not condone these actions and supports Malema, although he did not say it outright.
”This man is a president, he ought to rise above. He cannot speak like me, but we know what he said. He was on their case.”
Malema claimed the SACP general secretary is aiming to become the deputy president of the ANC and so the SACP is sucking up to Zuma.
He referred to ”this unnecessary over-praising of the president” as a sign of the SACP’s attempt to curry favour with Zuma.
”President Zuma will never surrender. We won’t leave that space,” Malema declared.
Malema was previously criticised by SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande for being an ”African chauvinist” and by SACP deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin for supporting the nationalisation of the mines because it would favour the black bourgeoisie whose mining interests are suffering owing to the recession.
At the press conference on Tuesday, Malema admitted that he sent a text message to Cronin last week telling him to ”wait until he sees what is coming to him”.
”Is that threatening?” Malema said innocently when approached on Tuesday about the text message.
If the booing by the SACP delegates is a declaration of war, Malema said he is up for the challenge.
”We are encouraging our structures to go and fight,” he told reporters.
He was careful not to make his own declaration of war, having been in hot water previously about his ”kill for Zuma” comments.
Malema also implied that Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi took sides in the spat between the SACP and the Youth League.
”He talked about the booing of that fellow. Are we not comrades anymore, are we fellows?”
As a final dig to the communists, Malema questioned their popularity, saying they cannot match the ANC in terms of drawing crowds.
”The SACP can’t draw full stadiums, only if an ANC leader speaks like Zuma.”
The SACP, however, recently announced the party had almost doubled its membership in the last year to 96Â 000.