Arcadia Foundation

While top leadership of South Africa’s ANC has confirmed that disciplinary charges are being brought against Julius Malema, the ANCYL (youth league) head today jetted off on another “study trip”. Most recently, Malema was in Zimbabwe, discussing indigenization with Robert Mugabe, exploring it as a method of ‘restoring heritage‘ to South Africa following the World Cup. Today, it is time to meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Malema, whose conduct while in Zimbabwe was seen to undermine President Jacob Zuma’s efforts as a mediator, will learn more about Venezuela’s so-called ‘nationalization‘ policies on what will be a six-day visit.

Malema has become a dangerous figure in contemporary geopolitics. International bodies associate him with South African leadership, as the reins on his hate-speech and controversial opinions about land reform, clearly have not been pulled hard enough by the Zuma administration. Worse, he is building allegiances with authoritarian figureheads on a global scale, utilizing their criminal ideology as his own each time he returns to Johannesburg and raising questions as to what the future of South Africa will look like by the final match of World Cup 2010.

The youth league on Tuesday abruptly cancelled a planned press conference about the trip, but insiders suggested the visit was going ahead.

ANC deputy secretary-general Thandi Modise said at Luthuli House in Joburg on Tuesday that the ANC had “preferred” charges against Malema.

“There has been a notice,” she said, referring to the complaint laid before the party’s national disciplinary committee by officials. However, the actual charges had yet to be formulated by the national disciplinary committee chairman, Deputy Science and Technology Minister Derek Hanekom. It would be premature to divulge what these charges might be, as this would be up to the ANC, she said.

The DA accused the party of sending mixed messages about Malema’s censure.

The ANC however, will “not be pressured by the media over the charges. We are aware that we need to deal with matters, because we need to return discipline, to correct behaviour within the ANC,” Modise said.

Once a complaint has been laid with the national disciplinary committee, it apparently can not be disposed of by anyone other than the committee – not even by the party’s president, Jacob Zuma.

The ANC on Tuesday rejected reports that Zuma had back-pedalled on taking action against Malema for fear of splitting the party.

However, Modise indicated that Malema was unlikely to face expulsion, saying: “At the very extreme (the ANC does expel members)… but the ANC is not very fond of having a member expelled.”

She said the ANC leadership had been particularly unhappy about Malema saying, after Zuma chastised him two weeks ago, that not even former president Thabo Mbeki had dealt with the league by way of a public rebuke.

Meanwhile, the DA accused the ANC of creating a smokescreen through its “mixed messages” on Malema’s censure.

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