Moves are being made to undermine Julius Malema’s support in the provinces. It is a back-up plan to weaken the embattled ANC youth league leader should he survive the current disciplinary hearing, say ANC insiders.
The Mail & Guardian has learnt from ANC national executive committee (NEC) members and from provincial leaders of the ANC and the youth league in Limpopo and North West that a rebellion is brewing against the youth leader.
Strategies to weaken Malema include: disciplining his supporters over the violent protest in support of him in Johannesburg; using his own allies, who are known to have ambitions regarding the leadership of the youth league, to neutralise him; and persuading rank-and-file supporters to jump ship before Malema takes them down.
In addition, the youth league claimed last week that its members were being interrogated by unknown people calling themselves intelligence operatives.
At least four of the league’s NEC members are said to be prepared to “stab him in the back” should the opportunity arise. Their names are known to the M&G and two of the four are prominent Malema allies.
A government official closely linked to the Malema-led campaign to install Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula as the ANC’s next secretary general said that Malema’s allies, who are suspected of lobbying against him in the tense youth league leadership race in June, are being watched closely.
“You have these people who are closer to the president but are not necessarily Julius’s people; they are their own people,” said the official. “They see themselves as senior to many people in the league and want to lead.”
‘Undermining support’
A provincial leader and ANC NEC member said: “Some people in the youth league are waiting for top positions and are open to persuasion. That’s the strategy I would support.”
Limpopo is the launch pad for undermining support for Malema, according to two sources.
“Cosatu is already on board and the SACP [South African Communist Party] followed this week by calling for the provincial government to be disbanded,” said a Gauteng youth league leader linked to the anti-Malema group in Limpopo. “Put the Limpopo government under administration and then investigate the mafia and bring them down.”
A regional youth league leader in Limpopo said that some opponents of Malema in the league had joined hands with senior provincial leaders, using the opportunity presented by Malema’s disciplinary hearing to attack his strongest support base.
“We want to destroy everything associated with him,” the leader said. He said “fear, intimidation and patronage” had ruled in Limpopo and Malema still had a grip on the league there.
However, there are doubts about whether the campaign to dislodge Malema will succeed. “Politically, Zuma’s allies will not dislodge Julius. They have to look for another route and the Limpopo corruption allegations are providing an easier passage,” said a Gauteng youth league regional leader.
A provincial executive member of the youth league in the North West said that student organisations — the Congress of South African Students and the South African Students’ Congress — were also being used to divide Malema’s support. Most youth league branch members were still studying.
A Limpopo ANC leader said the plan to dislodge Malema was unlikely to have emanated from Luthuli House. “Current ANC leaders don’t have the capacity to hatch such a plot. It’s the impact of the instruction to discipline Malema’s supporters that’s weakening his support base,” the leader said.
An ANC NEC member said: “Already in the NEC you’ve got people who say: ‘It’s not that we support Malema, we’re scared of him. Take him out and we’re willing to work together to unite the party'”.
The NEC member said, however, that Malema’s support in the ANC and its alliance partners could not be underestimated. He said such support came largely from disaffected and unemployed urban and rural youth who were bitter about the lack of economic opportunities.
“The majority remain mainly young people who relate to the league’s call for nationalisation and the expropriation of land without compensation.”
Malema also had support among middle class black youth. “Some are entrepreneurs. They are hardworking and ambitious. They want to see their companies listed on the JSE.”
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