/ 19 August 2011

JZ and Juju: Bring them their machine guns

Jz And Juju: Bring them Their Machine Guns

Julius Malema’s controversial comments about regime change in Botswana have resulted in charges of misconduct being levelled against the controversial youth league leader by the ANC — but chances are he won’t be facing serious punishment any time soon.

It was confirmed on Friday that the ANC Youth League president, along with his notoriously ill-tempered spokesperson Floyd Shivambu, would be charged with misconduct by the organisation’s mother body following extreme comments made by the league about working to bring about regime change in Botswana.

They will face the music on August 30 and 31, Derek Hanekom — the ANC’s national disciplinary committee chairperson — told eNews on Friday.

Three weeks ago, the league issued a statement saying that it would work in tandem with opposition parties in the country to unseat President Ian Khama’s Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) which they labelled a “footstool of imperialism”.

The statements were a slap in the face for the ANC, as not only is Botswana is considered one of the few stable democracies in Southern Africa, but on the world stage the government espouses the ruling party’s policies of noninterference in the internal affairs of democratically elected foreign governments.

The league’s comments were construed in some quarters as an attack on President Jacob Zuma, by threatening the country and the ruling party’s stance on, and good relationship with Botswana.

‘Not in our name’
The ANC immediately distanced itself from the comments, and the league later earned a public scolding from the ruling party’s secretary general Gwede Mantashe, after it criticised the party for “publicly condemning” them.

The league eventually issued an unconditional apology for their actions in the hopes its leaders would not be punished for yet another wild statement — a move which clearly did not pay off.

However, if Malema’s past experiences with the ANC’s disciplinary procedures are anything to go by, a gentle slap on the wrist might well be all that is on the cards.

Despite Malema’s history of pushing the envelope and questioning the ruling party’s authority, the ANC has yet to deal forcefully with the increasingly powerful youth league leader.

Old wounds
In April last year, Malema was charged with bringing the ANC into disrepute for a number of infringements including:

  • Criticising President Zuma while drawing a comparison between the leadership of Zuma and former president Thabo Mbeki;
  • Controversially pronouncing support for the Zanu-PF in Zimbabwe;
  • Having a public altercation with BBC journalist Jonah Fisher and throwing him out of a Luthuli house press conference; and
  • His continued singing of the struggle song dubul’ ibhunu (“kill the boer”) despite an ANC order not to do so, following the death of white supremacist Eugene Terreblanche.

For his efforts, Malema earned a suspended sentence after apologising to Zuma and pleading guilty to the charge of criticising the president publicly. He was ordered to attend anger management classes and to pay a R10 000 fine towards a youth development project.

The penance paid by Malema was seen by many as a extremely lenient and Malema emerged relatively unscathed — and arguably more popular, and powerful than he had been before.

What doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger
So while Malema’s many detractors are quietly celebrating that the leader is finally being reined in, the end result could well be more newspaper column inches, more screen time, more exposure and more influence.

Zuma can hardly afford to alienate such a powerful figure within the ruling party’s ranks — someone who wields massive support not only within the organisation he leads but the ruling party itself.

This rings especially true ahead of the ANC’s general conference in Mangaung at the end of next year, while Zuma’s shot at re-election hangs in the balance.

Another aspect counting in Malema’s favour is that he continues to enjoy the support of powerful individuals within the higher echelons of the ruling party, attested to by the fact that in his original hearing he was represented by ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa.

This viewpoint strikes a chord with Adam Habib, a political analyst at the University of Johannesburg, who believes the ANC are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Rock and a hard place
“The leadership can’t treat this lightly as they’d look whimsical in their dealings with Malema, but they can’t just simply sanction him. By doing so they would not only be alienating Malema and his cohorts but the ANC Youth League as a whole,” he told the Mail & Guardian.

For the moment, the ANC Youth League is playing its cards close to its chest, with spokesperson Magdalene Moonsamy telling the M&G the league would comment on the matter once they had issued an official statement.

It’s a classic Mexican standoff.

Malema holds the big gun of critical continued support and the league’s so called king-making powers.

Zuma’s bullets, on the other hand, have the power to terminate Malema’s membership of the ANC and the league (although not necessarily his political career).

It’s a showdown with high stakes for all involved, and as the tension mounts the country will be holding its breath, waiting to see who will shoot first — and whose machine gun is shooting blanks.