The ANC Youth League will not be intimidated and there will be no retreat, spokesperson Floyd Shivambu said on Friday as disciplinary procedures continued against its president Julius Malema.
“It looks like we are going to be inside Luthuli House for a long time,” he said of the ANC’s headquarters in Johannesburg, where the hearings are being held.
On Friday, the ANC’s national disciplinary committee rejected an application by Malema for the charges against him to be dropped.
It also refused Malema’s application for the recusal of committee chairperson Derek Hanekom, Mining Minister Susan Shabangu and Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane.
Shivambu said the hearings would probably be postponed until either September 5 or September 12.
Malema was brought before the committee on charges of bringing the ANC into disrepute and sowing division in ANC ranks.
He recently said the league would send a team to Botswana to consolidate local opposition parties and to help bring about regime change, as it believed the government there was “in full cooperation with imperialists” and undermining the “African agenda”.
The provinces have spoken
Charged with Malema are Shivambu, league deputy president Ronald Lamola, treasurer general Pule Mabe, secretary general Sindiso Magaqa and deputy secretary general Kenetswe Masenogi.
All except Shivambu were to appear before the committee on Friday. His disciplinary hearing had been postponed to a later date.
It had been rumoured that Malema would address his supporters after Friday’s hearings, but instead Shivambu came out to speak to the group gathered in Beyers Naude Square.
He said that in due course, the league would tell its members in all provinces what was going to happen.
An unnamed supporter said Malema would not address the crowd because he had already said what he needed to say.
“Come on, use common sense. The provinces have already spoken to the people, why does he need to?” he asked.
Shivambu said the league did not want to communicate the happenings in the hearings every day, but would tell everyone what was happening once there was an outcome.
“We want all of you to come back here and support us.”
‘Sabotage’
Shivambu said misleading messages had been sent out that the league was questioning the ANC’s constitution.
Just then, his microphone cut out and the crowd shouted: “Sabotage”.
In a statement issued earlier in the day, Shivambu said the information about the hearings, which the ANC gave to the media, was against the party’s constitution.
“The youth league’s understanding of the ANC constitution’s clause concerning public communication is that it can only be done once all processes have been finalised,” he said.
The league would stand by this understanding in its own dealings with the media.
Shivambu said the information divulged until now did not reflect what had happened in the hearings.
The league dismissed as untrue a report by the ANC’s disciplinary committee claiming Malema had argued the charges against him were contrary to the ANC constitution.
It would make an urgent application to stop any future ANC communications.
Malema’s former deputy Andile Lungisa said the league’s national executive committee would review what had happened in Friday’s hearing. — Sapa
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