South Africa's ANC sacks youth leader Julius Malema

[Ngambo Ngali]

South Africa's governing ANC has found youth leader Julius Malema guilty of bringing the party into disrepute.


He has been suspended from the party for five years and sacked as Youth League leader.


Once a close ally of President Jacob Zuma, Mr Malema has become one of his strongest critics, accusing him of ignoring poor South Africans who helped bring him to power in 2009.


The BBC's Milton Nkosi says the verdict boosts Mr Zuma's re-election bid.


Mr Malema wants Mr Zuma replaced as party leader ahead of the 2014 elections but our correspondent says it is now difficult to see how Mr Malema can affect the ANC leadership contest next year.


The party celebrates its 100th anniversary in January 2012 and our correspondent says ANC officials are determined to show that this organisation will not be dictated to by a young, unruly leader.


His suspension is for calling for a change of government in neighbouring Botswana - a position which contravenes party and government policy.

"Ill-discipline is not a cure for frustration," said Derek Hanekom, who led the disciplinary hearing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa

 

[Korosho]

South Africa's ANC sacks youth leader Julius Malema

Julius Malema is a hugely divisive figure in South Africa after a series of controversial statements
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South Africa's governing ANC has found youth leader Julius Malema guilty of bringing the party into disrepute.
He has been suspended from the party for five years and sacked as Youth League leader.
Once a close ally of President Jacob Zuma, Mr Malema has become one of his strongest critics, accusing him of ignoring poor South Africans who helped bring him to power in 2009.
The BBC's Milton Nkosi says the verdict boosts Mr Zuma's re-election bid.
Mr Malema wants Mr Zuma replaced as party leader ahead of the 2014 elections but our correspondent says it is now difficult to see how Mr Malema can affect the ANC leadership contest next year.
The party celebrates its 100th anniversary in January 2012 and our correspondent says ANC officials are determined to show that this organisation will not be dictated to by a young, unruly leader.
His suspension is for calling for a change of government in neighbouring Botswana - a position which contravenes party and government policy.
"Ill-discipline is not a cure for frustration," said Derek Hanekom, who led the disciplinary hearing.

"Such disobedience undermined the effectiveness of the ANC."
There is tight security outside the ANC headquarters in central Johannesburg but no sign of the large crowds of ANC Youth League members seen when the hearing opened in August.
Thousands of Mr Malema's supporters clashed with police and some were seen burning T-shirts bearing Mr Zuma's face.
Mr Malema is a hugely divisive figure in South Africa after making a series of controversial statements.
He has previously been found guilty of using hate speech by singing an anti-apartheid song Shoot the Boer [white farmer], which has since been banned.
He once vowed to "kill for Zuma" and was also disciplined for saying a woman who said she had been raped by Mr Zuma had had "a nice time". Mr Zuma was acquitted of the charges.
In May 2010, he was made to apologise publicly following a controversial trip to Zimbabwe where he declared the ANC's support for President Mugabe at a time when Mr Zuma was mediating between the country's coalition members.
He is also being investigated by an anti-corruption unit over allegations of irregularities in the awarding of government contracts to companies in his home province of Limpopo. He denies any wrongdoing.
Mr Malema has 14 days to appeal against the ANC sentence but was already suspended for his statements on Zimbabwe and so must vacate his position as Youth League leader immediately.
Youth League spokesman Floyd Shivambu was also suspended for three years.
Mr Malema was doing a university exam on Thursday and was not immediately available for comment, reports the Reuters news agency.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15671960


My take: You cannot grow bigger than your party. Maybe some of our politicians will borrow a leaf from this incidence.

 

[ibange]

South Africa's ANC sacks youth leader Julius Malema | More ► http://t.co/YDhpRPs6 2 minutes ago.
ANC wamechukua maamuzi magumu. Je, CCM wataweza?

 

[The Finest]

Julius Malema ... gone, but i think he will not be forgotten. His followers see him as a charismatic figure who dared test the highest authority in the land... the President. He promotes himself as the voice of the poor who have been forgotten by the government. Individuals like Malema always end up in politics... even running the country.

SA had better resolve this problem before all hell breaks loose.

 

[Nanu]

Yes, Malema is a critics and has a slogan which the majority young South African loves.
It is important that ANC addresses the concerns that Malema was putting forward otherwise, I see the DA party coming strong as it started changing its strategy by plaicng black South Africans into higher position within DA. It may seems that Malema is over with ANC but his views and what he was advocating especially land issues, sharing of national cake, will not go away.

 

[Yericko Nyerere]

Julius Malema, South Africa's outspoken ANC youth league president, has been cast into the political wilderness after he was suspended from the party for five years over charges of misconduct.

Mr Malema was found guilty by a disciplinary committee of the party for seeking to sow divisions by criticising President Jacob Zuma and bringing it into disrepute by calling for regime change in neighbouring Botswana.

The move will come as a major blow for Mr Malema, who joined the ANC when he was eight years old.

Brought up by his mother, a domestic worker, in rural Limpopo province, he once said that the party was the "father figure" in his life.

He has suggested that the disciplinary action was motivated by "capitalists" within the organisation who want to silence his calls for Zimbabwe-style land seizures and mine nationalisation.

The Youth League President was sitting exams for a politics degree yesterday so not at the ANC headquarters in central Johannesburg to hear the verdict. He will remain in his position as pending an appeal.

Despite a heavy police presence, nor were the crowds of supporters who attacked police with rocks and bottles when the hearings started two months ago.

The ruling has prompted intense speculation that Mr Malema could set up a splinter party in a bid to unseat his former friend and now arch enemy Jacob Zuma from power.

He has some powerful backers within the ANC - among them millionaire housing minister and businessman Tokyo Sexwale and Mr Mandela's former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who remains an MP.

It is thought that the faction could push for Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to take over from Mr Zuma as party president at its elective conference next December.

Derek Hanekom, chair of the ANC's National Disciplinary Committee, delivered the ruling on Mr Malema's fate to a packed auditorium at Luthuli House.

He said that historically the ANC Youth League had been known to "push the boundaries" of policy formulation as the young Nelson Mandela once did in the same role.

But he said that Mr Malema, 30, had failed in his duty to set a good example for South Africa's youth by acting as a disciplined party member.

"The ANC Youth League is the preparatory school for future activists and leaders of the ANC," he said. "Discipline is a core attribute of any leadership and the ANC would have expected (Mr Malema) to have led by example.

"The leader of the youth league should have focused his energy on developing programmes to actively reach out to the broad cross-section of the youth, both black and white."

He said the Mr Malema's challenge to President Khama in Botswana, who he accused of being a "imperialist puppet", had done damage to South Africa's standing internationally.

"There was testimony.. that it had done damage to our diplomatic relations and international relations," Mr Hanekom said.

"It's difficult to judge the extent of that damage but we would not have deemed the statements (made by Julius Malema) to be reckless and irresponsible if we didn't believe that these statements did damage."

Mr Malema's spokesman Floyd Shivambu was also suspended from the party for three years for swearing at a journalist and similar comments he made on Botswana.

Neither Mr Malema nor Mr Shivambu were available for comment yesterday. It is understood the ANC Youth League is now planning a rally for Mr Malema's supporters.

 

[Companero]

Haya ndiyo matatizo ya kusoma 'western media', hebu kasome tena hiyo hukumu kwenye vyombo habari vya kiafrika

 

[Nyamemba]

u have been trying to tell us that u had long history with ANC and that u resemble each and everything now u CCM if u dont want to try then copy such a gud example from ANC