The ANC Youth League has vowed to defy the banning order served on Julius Malema on April 4.
Malema was missing on Sunday when his fellow national executive committee members, including his deputy Ronald Lamola, gathered at a hotel in Sandton to discuss his banning order.
The meeting lasted almost three hours and top of the agenda was the latest punishment meted out to Malema by the national disciplinary committee (NDC).
On Sunday, Sindiso Magaqa, secretary-general of the youth league, said its special national executive committee agreed to defy the ANC over its ban on Malema.
“The NEC agreed that the ANC Youth League president should continue participating as a president of the ANC Youth League and perform all his functions as a president, because the decision to temporarily suspend has not been officially communicated to the ANCYL as a structure of the ANC.
“The previous ordinary meeting of the ANCYL national executive committee gave us a mandate to protect and defend the autonomy of the ANCYL by not agreeing with the removal or release of any of the elected leaders of the ANC Youth League until 2014, and we are guided by that resolution,” said Magaqa.
The youth league maintained that Malema and his executive were elected at a full national elective conference held at the Gallager Convention Centre in June last year.
Magaqa was adamant that the ANC failed to consult it when it took a decision to suspend Malema.
“The ANCYL will convene a national general council within the quickest possible time to get the guidance of ANCYL members and branches on the recent developments in the ANC.
“We will once again request a meeting with the leadership of the ANC… because we are still convinced that a political discussion will amicably resolve the misunderstandings on organisational relations and how we should function as a movement.
“Consistently, the ANC says the youth league is not charged, but the utter refusal of ANC leadership to meet with (it) suggests that the ANCYL is charged and being banished, for reasons which we still do not understand,” said Magaqa.
The youth league called on its members to participate in the ANC policy conference to ensure resolutions regarding the nationalisation of mines and expropriation of land without compensation found expression in the ANC.
It raised concern about the alleged bad attitude of NDC chairman Derek Hanekom and Cyril Ramaphosa, head of the national disciplinary committee of appeals.
Political Bureau