ANC Youth League president Julius Malema's ANC membership has been suspended with immediate effect, the party's national disciplinary committee (NDC) said on Wednesday.
This followed Malema's verbal attack on President Jacob Zuma on Friday when he called him a dictator and said he was suppressing the league.
“After due consideration, the NDC was satisfied that this utterance constitutes a very serious violation of the ANC Constitution and that the institution of disciplinary action... of the ANC Constitution is warranted,” NDC chairman Derek Hanekom said in a statement.
Malema was informed on Wednesday morning of his immediate temporary suspension and that disciplinary proceedings would be instituted against him by the NDC.
The NDC stipulated the following conditions that Malema will be required to comply with during his suspension:
1. He will not exercise any duty in his capacity as an ANC member, president of the ANC Youth League and/or member of the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC Limpopo Province;
2. He will not attend any meeting of the ANC or any of its structures, including the leagues, except for the purpose of the NDCA hearing and the pending disciplinary proceedings to be instituted against him.
3. He will not address any meeting of the ANC or any of its structures, including the leagues, whether as an invited guest, in his capacity as president of the ANCYL and/or as a member of the ANC; and
4. He will not make any public statement on any matter pertaining to the ANC.
According to the Mail and Guardian website, this suspension does not form a part of the disciplinary process against the embattled ANC Youth League president that resulted in his expulsion, a sentence he is currently appealing.
The Mail & Guardian reported that the ANC’s national disciplinary committee met late on Tuesday where it decided to impose the latest suspension on Malema.
During a centenary lecture in at Wits University in Joburg on Friday, a fired-up Malema said the ANCYL was being traumatised and suppressed under Zuma's leadership.
“Under President Zuma, we've seen the youth of the ANC being traumatised and expelled from their home,” he said.
Malema said Zuma's leadership had suppressed the voice of the youth and replaced democracy with dictatorship.
“We've seen intolerance. People are impatient with the youth, people do not appreciate new opinions. They suppress new opinions.”
In the letter, the NDC reportedly told Malema that his suspension did not affect or negate the appeal process against his expulsion.
Malema's appeal hearing is expected to start on April 12. - Sapa, IOL