INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

ANC Youth League president Julius Malema. Photo: Ziphozonke Lushaba

As the ANC Youth League prepares for a future without its leader, it has emerged that Julius Malema has yet to instruct his lawyers to argue for a lesser sentence before the party’s national disciplinary committee.

Advocate Patric Mtshaulana, a member of Malema’s legal team, said on Monday he had not yet been instructed to further pursue the youth leader’s case.

He said he was not sure whether Malema would take up the ANC’s national disciplinary committee of appeal’s decision that argument in mitigation be heard. The ANC will be allowed to argue in aggravation of sentence.

Malema did not answer his cellphone, while league spokesman Floyd Shivambu – whose suspension was also upheld – said they would not comment on the matter.

ANC NEC member and chairman of the NDCA, Cyril Ramaphosa, on Saturday announced the guilty verdicts against Malema, Shivambu and league secretary general Sindiso Magaqa would stand, but that they could argue for lesser sentences within 14 days.

By allowing argument in aggravation as well as mitigation, Malema risks receiving a sentence tougher than the five-year suspension.

Mtshaulana said the outcome of the appeal had not been “unexpected”.

The appeals committee was yet to provide the legal team with its full report.

He had as yet had no word from Malema on whether he wanted plead in mitigation of sentence.

Should Malema and his fellow league executive members fail to approach the national disciplinary committee within 14 days their suspensions will kick in immediately.

If they choose to make arguments in mitigation and the disciplinary committee dismisses them, they can appeal the outcome with the appeals committee.

But ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on Monday it was only a matter of time before Malema’s suspension took effect.

There was “no confusion” about Malema’s suspension and the ANC “welcomed the decision of the NDCA of referring some of the aspects to the NDC – that is their jurisdiction, we can’t enter that territory”.

“If we were legalistic in dealing with it, we would be saying the 2010 two-year suspension of the president of the ANC (youth league) would kick in. We took a different view when we discussed it – that this issue cannot be managed in a way that looks desperate and in a hurry,” said Mantashe.

The ANC would “wait for the two weeks for the mitigating arguments to be submitted and take that process to the end and allow everything to kick in at that point”.

“So I am clarifying two things here: we are welcoming the (decision) of the NDCA of referring some of the aspects to the NDC - that is their jurisdiction, we can’t enter that territory. Number two, the fact that we are delaying (the) kicking in of that past verdict, it’s a political consideration (rather) than a legal consideration. I am stopping there,” Mantashe said.

- Political Bureau