Limpopo - Expelled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema says he will take time out from his farming duties on Saturday to “observe” the ANC 101st birthday celebrations.
Although he will not be attending the rally at Kings Park Stadium, an event where he would once have enjoyed centrestage, he will “observe the moment” as he remains a loyal supporter of the ANC.
“I might not have enough resources to make it to KZN, but I will observe the celebrations from where I am (in Limpopo).
“If there are any celebrations here in Limpopo I will attend, because nothing stops me from attending as a supporter. I will just go there and sit with ordinary people in the stands. I will not even bother anyone for a VIP ticket.”
He said all South Africans should “observe” the ANC celebrations as the party was a people’s organisation and remained the only hope for the poor and vulnerable.
The destruction of the ANC would be the destruction of the hopes of the most vulnerable, he said.
Malema said after exhausting all internal platforms to have himself re-admitted into the ANC he had accepted his expulsion but was “sitting right outside the gate waiting for it to open”.
He said he was enjoying time as an ordinary person and was more focused on his farming operation where he tends to cattle and produces cabbages and jam tomatoes.
“It is harvesting time and there is so much work to be done and by the time I get back in the evening I just want to take a shower and sleep. I have not even been following the news closely.”
Malema said it was too early to say whether he would at a later stage re-apply for ANC membership.
“Age is on my side I will just take a chill pill and become an ordinary person. I have never experienced life as an ordinary person; this gives me an opportunity to experience what people see in politicians.”
He dismissed suggestions that he might join another political party, saying he would die a loyal supporter of the ANC.
He added however that he would not make his house a no-go area to other political parties campaigning for votes in the run-up to the 2014 election.
“I am not bitter with the ANC, I have never been a cry baby.”
He said it was time for the ANC Youth League to move on and elect a new president.
“We cannot hold the Youth League to ransom. For the league to survive this onslaught by the triumphalists of Mangaung, it has to adapt to the situation and elect a new president.”
He said that the league must elect a president who will champion the cause of young people and one who will not be easily intimidated.
“The league should not elect a president who is just looking for a salary, but someone who will champion the youth league agenda, even if there is no salary. But I don’t understand this thing that they should elect a new secretary-general because the secretary-general (Sindiso Magaqa) is coming back in April.”
He continued: “…I bear no grudges against the Youth League. I was not expelled by the Youth League, but by a faction in the ANC hell-bent on doing everything to win in Mangaung.”
Does he miss politics?
“Politics is not only about having a position. Even farming which influences food security is politics.”
Asked about the legal battles that lie ahead for him, Malema said he was not worried as he was “spiritually prepared”.
“I have the support of my family and of religious leaders. Everywhere we go, in the malls in the townships and villages we meet people who tell us that we shall overcome.”
He said he was certain that at the end of the trial he would walk out of the court a free man. “The court will look at all the facts and not who is being charged and I know that I will be free because I have never run an illegal operation in my life.”
Malema said he would not be silenced and as an ordinary citizen he would continue to express his views on the direction of the country.