ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema fought a rearguard battle yesterday to retain his post, embarrassing his challenger Lebogang Maile in what appears a proxy battle about whether or not President Jacob Zuma should be removed as party leader next year.
It is common cause that should Maile, whose campaign is said to have the blessing of Zuma, manage to replace Malema as league president, the Young Lions would endorse Zuma’s second term as a leader of the ANC and therefore of the country.
Malema’s campaign for his own re-election hinged on two critical factors:
l That the ANCYL must agitate for the removal of Zuma and ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe when the mother body celebrates its centenary in Mangaung next year.
l That there be a serious programme of economic transformation that includes nationalisation of mines and other strategic assets such as land.
The out-of-hand rejection of Maile is seen as a rejection of Zuma’s low-gear bid for a second term and an endorsement of a new culture of one president, one term.
“The re-election of Malema is not about defeating Maile. He is nothing. He never mattered. We are contesting Zuma,” said a senior member of the league, seen as an ally of Malema.
“We will seek to elect Mkhuluwa (Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe) as Zuma’s replacement next year. Our hope is that Zuma should not put up a huge fight because if he does, there could be repercussions for him.”
Yesterday, Malema shuttled between KwaZulu-Natal and North West, ensuring that the provinces were firmly behind him while Maile marshalled his forces at the Gauteng provincial general council at the Kliprivier Recreation Centre in Kibler Park, south of Joburg.
Gauteng is expected to reject Maile today, based on the results of the five regions of which all but one favoured Malema.
As the delegates arrived for registration at the Kibler Park venue, the Malema group sang pro-Malema and Motlanthe songs while the Maile camp, clad in black and green T-shirts with Maile’s image in front and the inscription “The Right Direction” at the back, sang their own rendition, saying Maile has got power.
Free State, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape are set to declare results next week – even though this is seen as a mere formality as sub-regions have thrown their weight behind Malema.
Shadrack Tlhaole, the Northern Cape league chairman, said all the regions in his province were expected to nominate Malema as presidential candidate.
“We are clear. We are 100 percent behind Julius Malema and all our regions are going to be the same,” he said.
His remarks were echoed by league leaders in all the provinces polled by The Sunday Independent.
“We have a long-term vision with this leadership,” Mpumalanga league provincial chairman Kgotso Motloung said.
Malema reportedly noted at KwaZulu-Natal’s nomination meeting yesterday that there were those who planned to disrupt the conference, which starts in two weeks at Gallagher.
“They want to put (in) the interim leadership during the conference,” Sapa quoted him as saying.
He is said to have warned that tough action will be taken against against those who try to disrupt the conference. “Ill discipline won’t be tolerated; we are ready for people who want anarchy.”
He claimed that those who wanted to remove him were being funded by big corporates who did not want nationalisation.
ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said Malema, who is part of the national executive and national working committess of the ruling party, should bring the matter to the attention of the leadership if there was any truth in it.
“We are not aware of that and I don’t think the ANC will do that anyway. If there is truth in what he is saying, why is he not bringing the matter to the organisation? He is part of the NEC, he is part of the NWC,” Mthembu said.
Political analyst Somadoda Fikeni would not commit himself to whether the youth league could topple Zuma or not, but noted it was not going to be easy for Malema to carry out his plan given that he does not have an obvious candidate for the presidency.
“You are dealing here with a person who is refined in political survival,” he said.
He noted that in retaliation, Zuma might reward his enemies and set up committees to deal with those unhappy with his leadership.
Fikeni said Malema would use the ANC’s election woes and pressing socio-econocomic issues such as unemployment and the rising cost of living to depose Zuma.
“All this is dependent on a candidate who avails himself,” he said, adding that the league will be the leading voice for change in the leadership of the ANC.
Maile is expected to open the Gauteng PGC today.
A pro-Maile delegate said: “I agree with Malema in as far as Zuma is concerned. The old man must go. The problem I have with them is that they run the youth league as their fiefdom. That is why I support Maile. His only difficulty with this whole thing is that it is not clear whether he stands with Zuma or not.”
A delegate from Hammanskraal said he was concerned that the Gallagher Estate conference might degenerate into an orgy of mayhem and violence.
“If the people support you, you should be comfortable enough to not be chaotic,” the delegate said. - George Matlala and Moffet Mofokeng