/ 27 September 2012

M&G Hangout: Malema in court

Julius Malema
Julius Malema

Malema found himself in court this week as tensions rise within the ANC over the expelled ANC Youth League leader's attack on President Jacob Zuma.

Malema was granted bail of R10 000 by the Polokwane Regional Court on Wednesday after being officially charged with money laundering.

Our reporters have been covering the unfolding drama surrounding Malema for years. We asked you for your questions ahead of our our weekly live video chat with M&G reporters on the week's hot news.You can still send us your questions here OR vote on an existing question.

Every Friday the Mail & Guardian hosts a live video chat on our website on the major news topic of the week. This week we chat to Phillip de Wet, as well as Lionel Faull from the Mail & Guardian Centre for Investigative Journalism, amaBhungane. In August last year amaBhungane exposed how Malema's company On-Point Engineering won a R52-million contract to administer part of a R4.6-billion provincial roads budget for the Limpopo roads and transport department, and last week Faull revealed how the University of Limpopo was oiling the wheels of the patronage machine around Malema through two multimillion-rand contracts handed to Malema's close associates.

M&G online deputy editor Verashni Pillay will pose your comments and questions to our reporters during the chat. We will also take your tweets in real time sent to @verashni. You can watch the video on this link when it begins at noon on Friday, September 28 2012, and the recorded version afterwards.

Some of the questions we'll be tackling:

  • AJ from East London: "Does Julius Malema still get a salary from the government now that he has been expelled? What does he do for a living [and income] now?"
  • Common question from our readers: Will Malema ever be president. 
  • Bongani Mbanjwa: "Money laundering is about illicit money. The money in question came from government coffers and went to service providers. What is illicit in this case?"
  • AJ from East London: "Did Mr Malema actually spend any time in prison? Has he ever been in prison before. Any criminal record? Did this trial involve any prison time?"
  • Gil in Port Shepstone: "Mr Malema's appearance in court is clearly politically motivated. The ANC is using states resource to silence the fearless ones."

Watch the previous video chat with our reporters featuring your questions about the Cosatu conference.