The campaign to elect Gauteng youth league chairperson Lebogang Maile as president of the ANC Youth League is losing steam, say those around him — despite the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) coming out this week in support of him.
“People have not been coming to the party as we expected them to in the beginning,” a key lobbyist for Maile said this week. “Everyone jumped on the bandwagon because they want Malema out, but when it comes to doing the work, they’re nowhere.”
Maile has not publicly declared his candidacy and some around him are worried he is leaving the challenge too late. But Maile is also concerned about how his reputation will suffer if he loses, given that he is Gauteng sports minister and has set his sights on higher office. ANC sources in Gauteng said that a move by Maile to a national post, it would have wider repercussions.
“If Lebogang leaves, Paul Mashatile [ANC Gauteng chairperson and Maile’s ally] and his group will no longer have control of the Gauteng youth league. The position of a provincial chairperson will be open and [youth league provincial secretary] Thabo Kupa is still a strong contender. They don’t want Kupa in that post.” The composition of Maile’s support is also a worrying aspect of his campaign, say those intimately involved in it.
“People have their own scores to settle with Malema. They’re supporting Lebogang because of their own interests, not out of principle,” said a lobbyist. A source close to Malema’s campaign for a second term as youth league leader said Maile had left it too late to mount a challenge. “If anyone wanted to contest Julius, they should have done it a year ago. Now it’s too late; Malema has covered a lot of ground. There will be no contest for the presidency.”
Keeping a close eye
Maile is seen as being close to President Jacob Zuma, with Zuma said to be supporting his bid for presidency of the league. But a source close to Malema said Zuma was careful not to be seen to be supporting Malema’s rival.
“Zuma can see that the 2012 lobby group for Kgalema [Motlanthe] is very powerful — he can’t go and support Maile. The youth league is waiting for one mistake and they will go and announce [that they’re not backing him for a second term].”
Provinces, regions and branches also fear dissolution and intimidation if they support Maile, because Malema is said to have a hand in the league leadership’s audit to ensure that legitimate delegates attend its conference in June at Gallagher Estate in Midrand. Although Cosas and the South African Students Congress (Sasco) support Maile, they will only have a small number of direct votes at the conference. Their role is to lobby their members who also belong to the ANCYL to vote for Maile.
ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu said Cosas should stop interfering in the league’s internal affairs. The league did not have a problem with any of its members standing for leadership positions, but this should be done through the proper structures. He denied reports that Malema’s faction is intimidating Maile’s supporters.