Julius Malema’s main rival, ANC Youth League deputy president Andile Lungisa, faced an attempted motion of no confidence in him at the league’s national general council (NGC) in Midrand, Gauteng this week. His fate will be decided on Friday.
Several regions from seven provinces dismissed the motion, which was proposed by the Eastern Cape’s OR Tambo region and backed by Limpopo, the North West and the Western Cape.
Four delegates, including a national executive committee (NEC) member, confirmed the attempt to remove Lungisa. “They want to remove him because he differs with them on the leadership preference for 2012.” said an NEC member sympathetic to Lungisa.
Talk of Lungisa’s interest in the league’s presidency angered Malema’s backers, with some lobbying the branches to lead a charge to remove him on allegations that he was using state money to run his anti-Malema campaign.
Removing him before the league’s national conference next year would have almost guaranteed Malema re-election for a second term.
The NEC member said: “People cannot stand the possibility of a leadership contest. They sing about [Fikile] Mbalula; our forces sing about Gwede [Mantashe] and [Jacob] Zuma. They cannot handle that.”
Malema took a swipe at Lungisa in his political report, in what was widely viewed as a tone-setting move for the motion of no confidence.
He said: “If the National Youth Development Agency is being used to fight political battles, we should say so and defeat such agendas, because we can never use instruments of youth development to fight battles for self-promotion. Malema said. Young people are awaiting the services of the NYDA and that is where we should concentrate.”
The support for Lungisa comes mainly from the Eastern Cape regions, other than OR Tambo, Cosatu, the SACP and its youth wing, the Young Communist League (YCL).
Determination to dictate agenda
The youth league’s first general council was clearly used as a platform to reorganise and re-energise the league in preparation for the ANC’s national general council next month.
Despite its recent problems, including chaos at its provincial conferences, court challenges by its members, public spats with alliance leaders and ANC disciplinary proceedings against Malema, the mood at Gallagher Estate in Midrand was one of determination to dictate the agenda at the ANC meeting next month.
The campaign for Mbalula, the deputy police minister, to take over as ANC secretary general in 2012 and for the nationalisation of South Africa’s mines was a done deal before the conference started, with support shown by provinces such as Mpumalanga, which printed banners supporting nationalisation.
Delegates erupted in praise songs when Mbalula walked in on the first day of the gathering.
But the league also went on the offensive against its perceived enemies. Buti Manamela, the YCL’s general secretary, was heckled in a clearly orchestrated move as he was about to deliver a message of support.
Malema punted the call for a generational mix in the ANC’s leadership, saying that for some senior ANC leaders to question Mbalula’s fitness for the secretary general position because of his age was “being disingenuous and having a mind of a rat”.
Another delegate said that the Malema-led NEC might still try to expel Lungisa. “They will try to manoeuvre at the level of the NEC, but even that will not be easy.”