The ANC Youth League is planning a procedural defence of its president, Julius Malema, arguing that the disciplinary action against him should be nullified because it was not sanctioned by the ANC’s top leadership in the national working committee.
The ANC has brought charges against Malema of disobeying party directives, including singing songs discouraged by its national leadership; of behaving aggressively towards a BBC journalist; of publicly declaring that President Jacob Zuma treated him worse than former president Thabo Mbeki did; for voicing support for Zanu-PF in Zimbabwe; and for his statements on the death of AWB leader Eugene Terre’Blanche.
The hearing, headed by Deputy Science and Technology Minister Derek Hanekom, got off to a dramatic start this week when Malema prevailed on national executive committee (NEC) members Collins Chabane and Susan Shabangu to recuse themselves from the hearing because of alleged bias. It will Âreconvene on Tuesday.
The Mail & Guardian has learned that Malema will claim that any disciplinary action should have the blessing of the national working committee (NWC) and that the charges against him were not presented to the committee.
Malema is represented by ANC treasurer general Mathews Phosa, who has legal training.
Malema is said to believe that he is the victim of a vendetta by ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe, who is responsible for the disciplinary action against him.
It is understood that when Mantashe testifies at the hearing, Malema will put it to him that he sees the disciplinary hearing as a “way to deal with this boy” because Malema has made it clear that the youth league does not support Mantashe for a second term as secretary general.
It is also understood that at the national general council of the ANC in September, the league plans to campaign heavily for Mantashe to be forced to choose between his positions as ANC secretary general and chairperson of the South African Communist Party.
Malema’s defence on the charges will include contentions that:
- There are no grounds for the charges relating to Zanu-PF and Zimbabwe, because the ANC has no formal position on that country;
- Malema could not “sit back” when people were saying he was responsible for the death of Terre’Blanche; he had to defend himself. Also, the statement warning ANC members to keep quiet about Terre’Blanche’s death was not issued by a formal structure but by the ANC spokesperson, Jackson Mthembu, who had no formal mandate from the NWC;
- The ANC could have addressed Malema’s singing of the “kill the Boer” song as former president Nelson Mandela had done in the 1990s, by simply saying that the national environment was not suitable. However, it was wrong to say that the song could not be sung at all; and
- Although there was no excuse for Malema’s verbal attack on BBC journalist Jonah Fisher, he had publicly apologised for doing this.
The ANCYL hopes that any negative finding by the disciplinary committee will be overturned by the ANC NEC, which, in terms of the party’s constitution, must affirm the committee’s decision.
At NEC level Malema will rely heavily on the support of such heavyweights as Phosa, Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula, Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda, Nyanda’s deputy, Dina Pule, Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, Tony Yengeni, Mpumalanga Premier DD Mabuza, Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale and Free State Premier Ace Magashule.