This is war, says league on Malema expulsion

The ANC won’t be held to ransom, says the party’s national disciplinary committee (NDC) which expelled youth league leader Julius Malema on Wednesday.

His testimony in mitigation of his sentence that the “real battle will start when the ANC will still have to persuade the youth” to get behind its decision to axe him from the mother body “constitutes a threat and is tantamount to holding the ANC to ransom”

, ruled NDC chairman Derek Hanekom on Wednesday.

He said that while “Malema testified that he subjected himself to the discipline of the ANC and that he would comply with any sanction imposed by the NDC, the NDC is particularly disturbed (by his) refusal to accept the findings of the national disciplinary of appeals, which confirm the findings of the NDC… (the situation) is clearly untenable”.

“The NDC is of the view that if Comrade Malema is not prepared to accept final decisions of the NDCA (National Disciplinary Commitee of Appeals), then the likelihood of his respecting the ANC constitution is remote,” said Hanekom.

The NDC found that Malema, a repeat offender, had shown no remorse during the disciplinary process, was not prepared to be disciplined by the ANC or to respect the disciplinary machinery of the organisation and was therefore beyond “rehabilitation”.

Malema has 14 days to appeal against his sentence with the NDCA.

Should the NDC confirm the finding, Malema’s expulsion takes immediate effect. But a member of the ANC’s national executive committee may petition it to review the decision.

The NDC had a marathon sitting on Wednesday which Malema and his legal representatives – advocates Dali Mpofu and Patric Mtshaulana – could not attend because they said that they had been given “too short” notice.

Malema was in his hometown in Seshego, Polokwane.

On Wednesday night chaos erupted outside Malema’s home after the NDC handed down its ruling in the cases of him, youth league secretary general Sindiso Magaqa and spokesman Floyd Shivambu.

Violent clashes between Malema’s supporters and opponents broke out outside Malema’s grandmother’s house in the neighbourhood where he grew up.

SABC news reported that gunshots were fired and stones thrown in reaction to the news that the ANC had given him his marching orders.

In other provinces, however, news of Malema’s expulsion was met with a militant vow to continue the “struggle”, with two provincial youth leaders and two national leaders telling Independent Newspapers Wednesday night that the “war” is not over.

“Julius will remain our president. We remain focused. There’s only one process, which is already under way, for us to mobilise the structures of the ANC to fight this thing.

“It happened when the then ANC deputy president (Jacob Zuma, during his rape trial) was suspended. It will happen again.

“This (expulsion) was not a proper decision. And we will lobby the branches of the ANC, our people, to act on this and raise their views,” said youth league North West provincial chairman Papiki Baboile.

Northern Cape youth league chairman Sharac Tlhoale agreed: “Malema is not going. All of us must then be expelled, for what we were mandated (by the 24th national general congress of the league).

“He is the youth league president and we stand by him.

“We elected him – and confidently so – and he has done what we wanted him to do.

“This has become less about the leadership of the ANC (who will be elected at Mangaung in December) and more about the policy decisions we want the ANC to take up,” he said, adding: “We will defend this expulsion and suspensions.

“We will not fight our battles in boardrooms but on the ground. We are going down to our people.”

The youth league NEC was likely to meet in the next few days to study the NDC’s ruling and to plot the way forward.

Two NEC members said the outcome was not surprising and that the youth league remained steadfastly behind Malema, despite divisions within the league and the ambitions of some leaders to take over from him.

At the recent league lekgotla, leaders from almost all branches of the youth league resolved that they would ignore any ruling against the league and that Malema would remain its president.

On Wednesday the NDC also gave youth league’s secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa a three-year suspended sentence on a charge of sowing division within the ranks of the party, related to a derogatory statement he made about the former youth league president, Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba. He was ordered to apologise to Gigaba within 15 days, pending the outcome of his appeal.

This sanction will kick in if Magaqa is found guilty of the same offence during that time or if he does not say “sorry” to Gigaba.

Hanekom said Magaqa had shown “no remorse and his evidence had aggravated his case” and that he should have been aware his utterances “carried a lot of weight and would readily be accepted by youth league members as authoritative”.

Youth league spokesman Floyd Shivambu’s three-year suspension from the party was upheld yesterday.

He was told that he had forfeited his youth league membership and position on its national executive committee.

Hanekom said “Comrade Shivambu” had shown no remorse for the call for regime change in Botswana which transgressed ANC policy and which differed significantly from the ANC Youth League’s 24th Congress resolution on the neighbouring country.

“Comrade Shivambu’s misconduct brought the ANC into disrepute and undermined the ANC’s commitment to respect the sovereignty of states.

“In the view of the NDC, both offences committed by Comrade Shivambu are serious,” Hanekom said.

Magaqa and Shivambu will appeal against the decision within 14 days.

After considering the arguments by the youth leaders, the NDC found that there was “no justification for their actions and utterances”.

“Consequently, their blameworthiness is not reduced,” it ruled. - The Star