He has fought every step of the way, sometimes behind closed doors in the ANC’s disciplinary hearings, sometimes out in the open. Now all ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema can do is wait.
His legal team met the deadline on Wednesday to file arguments in his appeal against his expulsion from the ANC, and the ruling party was to file its papers yesterday.
It is now up to the party’s national disciplinary committee of appeals to make a final decision.
It is understood Malema hopes to have the whole process scrapped – in effect invalidating his guilty verdict and expulsion – by arguing the disciplinary process has dragged on for more than six months, the limit set by the ANC constitution.
His argument that the process was politically motivated and the custodians of party discipline biased against him having already been rejected, this was the last card left for him to play.
However, even if the appeals committee were to accept this argument and scrap the process leading to his expulsion, Malema’s disciplinary troubles would be far from over.
His temporary suspension for likening President Jacob Zuma to a dictator was upheld this week and would remain in force, in effect gagging him, while the ANC’s disciplinary committee has until May 3 to formulate yet more charges.
The temporary suspension, which bars Malema from performing any duties as an ANC member or youth league president, was upheld because his past conduct meant “in all likelihood the applicant would continue to make public utterances which would or could bring the ANC into disrepute”, according to the national disciplinary committee of appeals statement this week.
In the light of such a damning finding, his chances of surviving a new batch of charges would seem to be remote.
As disagreement in youth league ranks over whether to retain Malema as president regardless of his possible expulsion burst into public view, speculation emerged he may be in line for a job abroad at the International Union of Socialist Youth.
He, however, dismissed such talk with a simple “no”.
There has been no indication on when the national disciplinary committee of appeals would announce its finding. - Independent On Saturday