The South African Situation

[Kaleb]

Julius Malema supporters clash with South Africa police

AdvertisementSupporters of Julius Malema, the youth leader of South Africa's ruling ANC, clash with police


South African police have fired stun grenades at supporters of controversial ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema ahead of his disciplinary hearing.

Mr Malema, 30, is accused of "sowing divisions" in the party and bringing it into disrepute by calling for Botswana's government to be overthrown.

Once a close ally of President Jacob Zuma, the populist Mr Malema has become a fierce critic.

His supporters threw stones at police who were blocking them in Johannesburg.

The police have erected a steel gate and barbed wire to close the main street leading to Luthuli House, the African National Congress headquarters where the hearing is being held.

Hundreds of Mr Malema's supporters are outside, chanting and setting rubbish on fire.

Some set on fire a T-shirt emblazoned with President Zuma's face, while other chanted "Zuma must go".

Mr Malema, who is charged along with five other top youth league officials, could be expelled from the ANC at the closed-door hearing.

He was put on probation by the disciplinary committee last year after being found guilty of criticising Mr Zuma.

Mr Malema, under separate investigation for alleged fraud and corruption, says he will accept the committee's ruling.

"We are taking responsibility for our actions and we are prepared for anything. We have always maintained that the ANC is our future, if that future is expulsion so be it," he said.

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Who is Julius Malema?

Born 1981, joined ANC aged 9
Had military training in 1990s
2008: Elected ANC Youth League leader
2008: Vowed to "kill" for Jacob Zuma
2009: Said woman who alleged she had been raped by Zuma had had a "nice time" - later disciplined
Called for mines to be nationalised and white-owned farms to be seized
2010: Disciplined for undermining Zuma
2011: Tried for singing "Shoot the Boer [White farmer]"
Called for the overthrow of Botswana's government
Criticised for lavish lifestyle
Correspondents say the youth league leader's calls to nationalise the mining sector and seize white-owned farm land have jarred with the party's leadership but have proved popular among his political base in impoverished black communities.

The BBC's Karen Allen described Mr Malema as a "kingmaker and political survivor", whose youth group brings the ANC a 350,000-strong block vote and influence over senior ANC leaders seeking promotion.

His disciplinary hearing sets the scene for next year's party leadership battle.

Mr Zuma's ambitions to secure a second term as ANC president could be enhanced if Mr Malema is pushed into the political wilderness, our correspondent says.

If, however, the maverick youth leader emerges with his ANC membership intact, President Zuma could face an uncertain future, she says.

The youth leader has long been a controversial figure.

He played a central role in helping Mr Zuma take control of the ANC from his predecessor Thabo Mbeki in 2008 and campaigned strongly for him in the 2009 elections, which brought Mr Zuma to power.

But on Monday, he said he did not have a personal relationship with the president, only an organisational one.

In May 2010, he was made to apologise publicly following a controversial trip to Zimbabwe where he declared the ANC's support for President Robert Mugabe at a time when Mr Zuma was mediating between the country's coalition members.

Mr Malema was also chastised by the ANC for expelling a BBC journalist from a press conference and defying party orders not to sing a racially divisive apartheid-era song, "Shoot the Boer [white farmer]".

source: bbcnews.com
Things are really going backwards.

Burn Zuma

President Jacob Zuma, journalists and police came under attack in Johannesburg's city centre where ANC Youth League members ran riot on Tuesday.

"We are not intimidated... they failed [in doing that]," African National Congress secretary general Gwede Mantashe told reporters outside Luthuli House, where throngs of supporters of youth league leader Julius Malema had caused chaos.

"Whoever brought the crowd must take responsibility, whether it's an attack on the police or journalists or passing cars, the ANC will not take responsibility for that."

Mantashe condemned the "acts of criminality, violence and hooliganism" and said the ANC had never before had a situation where people from its own party had tried to storm its office.

Mantashe would not say if Malema was still inside the building, but confirmed that he had been there in the morning.

"I'm not his spokesman, I don't know," said Mantashe, who addressed the media shortly after national police commissioner General Bheki Cele arrived at the ANC's headquarters.

Thousands of ANCYL members became violent in their pursuit to show support for Malema, who was facing a disciplinary hearing alongside other top youth leaders.

source:iafrica.com