The “gloves are off”, ANC Youth League president Julius Malema said on Thursday after the African National Congress suspended and unseated him.
“Let the enemy enjoy, but that victory will not last,” SAFM quoted him as saying in Polokwane.
“We will be liberated by Mangaung 2012,” said Malema, referring to the ruling party's elective and policy making conference to be held in the Free State next year.
“Real leaders of the ANC must now stand up in defence of the ANC,” he added.
“What I like about these people who have suspended us is that they are brave, they are not scared.”
Malema added: “We must also fight for what we believe in. We must never apologise. The gloves are off.”
He spoke after writing a University of SA examination while ANC disciplinary committee chairman Derek Hanekom announced that he and five other top ANC officials were suspended.
Malema told supporters he would appeal his five-year suspension.
He and the others have two weeks to do so.
The ANC's national executive committee (NEC) also has the option of reviewing the matter in a process separate to the disciplinary appeal process. - Sapa