By Carien du Plessis and Sibusiso Ngalwa
While the ANC's top leadership has confirmed that disciplinary charges are being brought against Julius Malema, the youth league firebrand was on Wednesday due to jet off on another "study trip", this time to meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Malema, whose conduct while in Zimbabwe was seen to undermine President Jacob Zuma's efforts as a mediator, will learn more about Venezuela's nationalisation policies on his six-day visit.
The youth league on Tuesday abruptly cancelled a planned press conference about the trip, but insiders said the visit was going ahead.
ANC deputy secretary-general Thandi Modise said at Luthuli House in Joburg on Tuesday that the ANC had "preferred" charges against Malema.
"There has been a notice," she said, referring to the complaint laid before the party's national disciplinary committee by officials. However, the actual charges had yet to be formulated by the national disciplinary committee chairman, Deputy Science and Technology Minister Derek Hanekom. It would be premature to divulge what these charges might be, as this would be up to the ANC, she said.
The DA accused the party of sending mixed messages about Malema's censure.
But the ANC will not be pressured by the media over the charges. "We are aware that we need to deal with matters, because we need to return discipline, to correct behaviour within the ANC," Modise said.
A highly placed ANC source told The Star that once a complaint has been laid with the national disciplinary committee, it could not be disposed of by anyone other than the committee - not even by the party's president, Jacob Zuma.
The ANC on Tuesday rejected reports that Zuma had back-pedalled on taking action against Malema for fear of splitting the party.
However, Modise indicated that Malema was unlikely to face expulsion, saying: "At the very extreme (the ANC does expel members)... but the ANC is not very fond of having a member expelled."
She said the ANC leadership had been particularly unhappy about Malema saying, after Zuma chastised him two weeks ago, that not even former president Thabo Mbeki had dealt with the league by way of a public rebuke.
This was among the issues the league had sought to clarify during a lengthy and often heated meeting of its national working committee with the ANC top brass on Monday.
Meanwhile, the DA accused the ANC of creating a smokescreen through its "mixed messages" on Malema's censure.