The Young Communist League of SA respects the decision to expel ANC Youth League president Julius Malema from the ANC, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
“We respect other organisations that we are aligned to. We do not want to interfere in the affairs of our alliance partners,” YCLSA spokesman Mangaliso Stalin Khonza said, after the announcement on Tuesday night that Malema was expelled.
The YCLSA's response was similar to that of Cosatu.
“As we have said before ... we accept and respect the decisions of the ANC disciplinary procedures and we feel it would not be right to comment,” Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven said when asked how the union federation felt about the development.
“Each component of the alliance has its own rules and procedures and we respect those and we would not like to comment on them.”
The SA Communist Party itself was not ready to articulate its stance when contacted on Wednesday morning.
Cosatu, the ANC and SA Communist Party traditionally support each other on core development issues and usually form a united front ahead of elections.
Cosatu has previously said “it's not our business” when asked to comment on Malema's troubles with the ANC. The union federation however said last year that finding him guilty of hate speech for singing “dubhula ibhunu” (shoot the boer) was a gross insult to the country's past, when the Equality Court in Johannesburg ruled against him.
It has also issued a statement condemning the behaviour of people who burnt ANC t-shirts and rioted in downtown Johannesburg when Malema's disciplinary hearing first began last year.
Malema has often vocalised many of Cosatu's points on protecting the poor, and joined Cosatu's massive protest in Johannesburg in March against e-tolling and labour brokers.
On Tuesday the party's national disciplinary committee of appeal (NDCA) expelled Malema and suspended spokesman Floyd Shivambu's membership for three years. General secretary of the league Sindiso Magaqa had his suspension reduced from three years to one year.
Malema was originally suspended, in November last year, for five years for sowing division in the party and for bringing it into disrepute. He was found to have done so by unfavourably comparing the leadership style of President Jacob Zuma to that of former president Thabo Mbeki, and for remarks on bringing about regime change in Botswana.
On February 29 the NDC announced the sanction against him was being increased to one of expulsion. He again appealed and it was this appeal that the NDCA dismissed on Tuesday.
Shivambu was found guilty of sowing division and bringing the ANC into disrepute. He was suspended from the ANC for three years for swearing at a journalist and for issuing a statement calling for a change of government in Botswana.
Magaqa was punished for making derogatory remarks about Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba. Initially, his suspension was contingent on him apologising to Gigaba within 15 days. Magaqa apologised to Gigaba in a statement sent to the media on March 10. – Sapa