The division which arose within ANC ranks, following President Jacob Zuma’s public reprimand of the ANCYL president, takes on new meaning if regard is had to the alleged response of the youth league to a purported decision to charge Julius Malema.
In accordance with reports in both the Sunday Times and City Press, Malema has either been notified that he will be charged or has already “received his charges on Wednesday from Mantashe’s office”.
The charges purportedly include promoting racism, sexism, tribal chauvinism, religious and political intolerance with a youth league delegation, headed by Malema, allegedly meeting the ANC’s top six officials at Luthuli House on Monday, to discuss the disciplinary process.
The charges allegedly relate to Malema bringing the ANC and the government into disrepute by publicly endorsing Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party and attacking the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, remarking that former president Thabo Mbeki never rebuked the youth league publicly when he disagreed with it, unlike President Jacob Zuma, publicly stating after Eugene Terre’Blanche’s murder, that the AWB leader died before changing his racist behaviour and for his aggressive behaviour towards BBC journalist Jonah Fisher, publicly calling him a “bastard” and “bloody agent”.
In respect of each it is of interest to note the president’s stance : In Zimbabwe he is the mediator who cannot be seen to be taking sides. In terms of Mbeki, a president who always remained dignified despite outrageous abuse from Malema, the ANCYL president is deliberately using the name of Zuma’s bitter rival for the presidency to undermine him. Along the lines of “not even Mbeki” did this to us.
In respect of Terre’Blanche the president had met with leaders of the Afrikaans community with regard to their fears over the singing of the “shoot the boer” song and visited an informal settlement over Easter. Throughout Malema continued to refuse to listen to the court order or ANC directive. On the BBC correspondent Zuma had committed the country to media freedom just days before, as well as visited Britain — where ties were strengthened despite having his youth league president screaming nationalisation throughout the trip.
Accordingly to say that Zuma is being undermined is like saying that the iceberg hit by the Titanic could have been bad for boating. Moreover, and as highlighted above, it is done both systematically and publicly. Yet when Zuma recently reprimanded Malema in public certain members of the ANC said that this was an internal matter.
Perhaps they’ve been studying “Vatican Methods of Dealing with Public Outrage 101″ — that’s a disaster as well.
On Sunday the ANC refused to confirm the media reports stating that it is not a matter for the public or media but rather an internal matter of the ANC — no doubt pursuant to the criticism of the anti-public faction.
And here is where it gets creepy.
According to the Sunday Times :
“An SMS, purporting to come from youth league spokesman Floyd Shivambu, informed the league’s provincial structures that Malema had been charged for ill discipline by the ANC and urged them to release statements in his defence to the media.”
The text message read :
“ANC outgoing secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has written a letter to ANC Youth League president charging him with ill discipline for speaking on behalf of the youth league on revolutionary songs, expression of shock with the public condemnation and BBC journalist incident. Provinces are requested to release statements in defence of the president. Please target your local media.”
“Shivambu yesterday denied sending the SMS, adding he had ‘no knowledge’ of Malema being charged.” (Sunday Times)
Yet City Press confirm that several ANC youth league leaders confirmed the existence of the letter — Mantashe to Malema — and told how the ANCYL spokesperson, Floyd Shivambu, had informed provincial leaders that the ANC had charged Malema with undisciplined behaviour.
Provinces were requested to support Malema by issuing media statements. (City Press)
Accordingly and having drummed up support within the ANC for criticism of Zuma for his public rebuke of Malema, the ANCYL are actively campaigning for as much publicity as they can manage to condemn the disciplinary procedures which they demand that the ANC deal with as an internal matter.
Relating to charges that arise from Malema repeatedly and publicly bringing the ANC and the government into disrepute.
As John McEnroe told the umpire : “You cannot be serious!”
Brilliant, Michael.
It’s interesting, that Malema has said worse things like calling Helen Zille a Satanist and accusing her of filling her cabinet with her male concubines. Now, he’s expressed his unhappiness with the one man who defended him in the media regardless of whatever he said.
It is quite disturbing that Shivambu sent that text message. Malema and his ANCYL buddies might be more clever than we think. Which itself, is quite a scary thought.
“two cheeks of the same bum” is how Peter Wilhelm of the Cap Times described Julius and Eugene.
Ironic that a Boer (Derrick Hanekom) heads the ANC disciplinary committee.
Malema should be expelled from the ANC for the damage done to SA’s international standing, for setting race relations back 20 years and for the single handled way in which he revived the AWB.
Malema does believe in Freedom of Association, Expression & Speech – as long as it is applied to him of course(and maybe, but that’s a big MAYBE, Floyd Shivambo!) He’s very comfortable with debate & discussion provided he talks & everyone listens! In Malema’s world, ALL THE FREEDOMS ARE OWNED BY HIM and to hell with the rest of South Africa (and Zimbabwe if you don’t support ZANU PF!) HE IS A DICTATOR! NO DOUBT! Without the “blind loyalty” button switched on – this fact is blatantly obvious to all thinking people. Malema supporters all! Know and know well (lest you mistakenly consider yourself favoured and above his crushing insults and bullying tactics)that all will be well provided you agree with absolutely everything he says and does – and a little curtsey or bow might help – eyes cast down would be good. However, the first hint of disapproval and the great JM (or very small really depending on where you are coming from) will turn on you like a pack of wild dogs and rip you to shreds – he will bad mouth you in the media and on whatever other platform he can find! Don’t be fooled – once confronted, no one will be spared his wrath – NO ONE! If the ANC doesn’t get him well under control or, better still, expel him, then, South Africa, prepare for the world of Stalin / Amin / Hitler / al Bashir, et al. He truly is the most terrifying & dangerous man!
Utterly juvenile; – but then the ANCYL would take that as a complement.
Zuma needs his mshini wami more than ever, cos’ he’s in for a fight. Malema’s gonna catch him in the parking lot.
I will be shocked if the ANC follow through in disciplining Malema. I still think he was hand-picked by ANC leaders to be the next president. This faction seems to me to be publicly ‘socialist’ and privately anarchist. They don’t care what happens to the country once their own nests are feathered and they have money safely stowed abroad. In fact, they may well want another Zimbabwe for the sake of ‘revenge’ against the white population despite the fact that half have already left the country and half of the remainder were born after 1991!
There is no logic or reason in anything the YL ‘demands’. All of it is counter-productive. The govt is not capable of running the mines nor is the black population skilled in farming. Seizing both of those national assets would be economic suicide. The only explanation that fits is that Malema and his supporters intend to emulate Idi Amin and Mad Bob whilst they plunder what is left of the country and engineer genocide to do it.
Malema is not a ‘youth’ much less a credible ‘leader’. He is a dictator in the Amin/Mugabe mold as his heavy-handed tactics in the YL attest. And his ambitions extend way beyond our borders.
What he should realise is the ‘west’ is fed up with Africa and if SA goes down, the Aid will dry up completely. The ‘west’ will abandon Africa and let China have the headache
Continued from above:
Chinese imperialist ambitions in Africa are apparent to everyone who can read the signs of history. China has no affection for Africa. There is nothing philanthropic in their courting of African governments.
China has long since exhausted most of its assets, ruined whole provinces through pollution of land and water, have a population that has to either find new places to live or be ‘culled’ in a phony war meant to disguise genocide. The Chinese think in millennia whilst African leaders look no further ahead than their own lifetimes.
Africa does not understand China and China does not need to understand Africa. It only needs to make Africa dependent on Chinese goods and capital to win. China does not need to colonise Africa to control it. They just have to let the continent implode under leaders like Mugabe and Malema meanwhile removing the mineral wealth and taking over abandoned land as the population dies off.
China depends on having the largest land army in the world but transporting enough of them here to enforce Chinese economic dominance is not feasible so they will use Africans against themselves.
Cynical? No Sino-cal. China is not courting India which is just next door and would be far more convenient to ‘colonise’. But India has nukes and a population problem to rival China’s. The Middle East will destroy itself eventually. Africa is a much softer target. Genocide and disease will take their toll and then China will take over.
Julius should get the true measure of Chinese real-politik before putting all his eggs in that basket!
Zuma is in a tricky situation. He’d have to be an absolute dunce to not realise that Malema causes him a lot of trouble daily. However his freedom is largely owed to Malema. Had Juju intimidated the courts and public less enthusiastically during the corruption trial, perhaps Zuma would be in jail right now. This is the problem with ‘cadres’ and ‘comrades’ and factionalism. Somebody always owes somebody; and nobody can act with integrity in mind because of all the favours.
oh please.
If media reports are to be believed, then all must be afraid. Not because of an emboldened Malema or weakened incumbent but because of a subverted office.
Good Article, I do not think we have heard or seen the end of Malema, sadly!! Will see what comes out at the newsconference at Luthuli House later this morning.
Has Mantashe reached the end of his term of office as Secretary General or is he being led, prematurely, to the guillotine by the Malemas?
Um, Michael, why is it creepy for a political faction to campaign to protect itself against attack from within the organisation of which it is a faction?
Isn’t it, rather, a bit creepy that there has been so little effort by ANC leaders to resist Zuma’s purges over the last three years?
“This animal is most malicious; when attacked it defends itself”
I would have thought that Maleme’s accusation that the courts ‘have not been transformed’ is a serious enough inditement of his genereal behaviour. The ‘bad’ courts that do not do what the ANC tells them to do, orht things that they should do,is a recipe for the end of what little democracy we have left. Already the NPA is stacked with ANC men and this is going to get worse. Malema as the next South African president will bring forth another Mugabe style dictatorship and the ruin of what ever is left of our once proud and prosperous country. Aparheid has been replaced with ANCHATE and we are all worse off.
Offering a big prize to anyone who can post a blog or comment about the rotten SA politics without bring Mugabe into their piece!
Nothing less than public chastisement of JM was going to calm this country down. He did it for us, the people, not just to humiliate JM.
The proof of the pudding will be in the judgement: if it’s 60 days banishment, we’ll all know that those ‘after the World Cup’ whispers hold weight. If permanent, hope exists (for at least another 60 days).
What’s more, if the judgement is permanent, it may warn JZ to tread carefully and that could also only be good. He’s said and done some pretty sill things himself…
@ Frank Nnete. Why is it that you are the last to figure these things out for yourself?
I know that sounds gratingly condescending of me, but the reality of our ‘subverted office’ (presidency and ANC government)has been flashing like strobe light since even before Zuma took office.
@ April 19th. ” I will be shocked if the ANC follow through in disciplining Malema.”
April 20th. I have no cause to be shocked. The ANC did exactly as predicted and dropped the charges against Malema. The ‘revolution’ (coup d’etat) is proceeding on schedule.
Panchetta,
A prerequisite for patronising is being taken seriously.
I was referring to the ANC presidency.
Re: my post above
It was based on a news report published in The Times. Turns out it was hearsay and not accurate.
However, I still think Zuma will do a U-turn. He’ll just use the NEC for cover.
During Mbeki-Zuma episode, you and other shenanigans sought to distort all facts just to get at Zuma, you then failed. Today, all of you are celebrating your own wild imaginative “reality” athat Malema is being charged of “promoting racism, sexism, tribal chauvinism, religious and political intolerance”, all just to direct our thoughts to your favoured end. You know very well, except that your subjective obsession does not help you out when it comes to Malema, that there are no such charges. Like the media and you right-wingers failed to block Zuma, you will never brake the ANC YL and Malema – get used to that reality because your readers are not myopic
Jacob Zuma is Malema’s whipping boy. I predict that this country is going to enter a Zim-style phase of destruction before the end of this year, and this just suits the BEE Plunderers down to the ground…the more chaos the more spoils of war, the vortex speeds up and produces more for the well-connected as it grows – there is already absolutely no consideration for the poor of this country as the ANC knows they cant think for themselves at elections, and can easily be swayed using the race card. Dont for a minute think Malema failed to note how simple it was to obtain valuable farms in Zim, and he knows that he’ll only benefit while still on the ANC’s radar – recent talks to discipline him (and potential expulsion) are going to make him more volatile and unpredictable in terms of the land issue…he wants land and he wants it now! – note his recent “vote means nothing without land”, the pot is being stirred faster and faster.
The only difference is that farmers in this country will fight back – if governance doesnt occur fast in this country, there will be war and its not going to be nice. Malema and those bank rolling him not only hold Zuma at ransom, but the entire ANC and all unsuspecting citizens of this country.
Well JuJu and his pals have been quickly and quietly shipped off to visit Hugo Chavez. Could this spell the beginning of the end for rudeboy? Choked of his daily doses of publicity and struggling with his understanding of Spanish, he might just fade into oblivion. Just kidding.