ANCYL seeks Malema 'political solution'

2012-03-02 08:50

Johannesburg - A "political solution" needs to be found to the expulsion of Julius Malema from the ANC, the Eastern Cape ANCYL said on Thursday.

"We don’t believe that the ANC should expel members of its preparatory school, rather should respond with a corrective intention and not through extreme punitive measures," spokesperson Nkosinathi Nomatiti said in a statement.

He likened the expulsion of ANCYL leader Malema from the ruling party, and the suspension of two other league officials, to the banning of liberation movements under apartheid.

"We do not believe that the ANC can at any stage behave in a manner that is no different from what the rogue apartheid regime did when it banned liberation movements in South Africa in the past. Hence we are hopeful of a political solution."

'Political intolerance'

He said the decision by the ANC's disciplinary committee amounted to "political intolerance", "extreme intimidation", and was an attempt to close down "democratic space" within the movement.

Nomatiti added that the Eastern Cape's ANCYL respected the ANC, its structures and decisions and viewed them as binding on ANC members.

Meanwhile the ANC Youth League national executive committee would meet at the weekend to discuss Malema's expulsion.

"[The NEC] will convene on Sunday to seek guidance from the leadership... on the way forward," league spokesperson Floyd Shivambu said in a statement on Thursday.

Shivambu said the league would hold a news briefing on Monday, and Malema would conduct an interview with the SABC's Metro FM in the evening.

"Members of the media are advised to respect this approach."

Support

Shivambu extended the ANCYL's gratitude to everyone who had sent messages of support following Wednesday's decision by the ANC's national disciplinary committee to expel Malema.

He thanked members of the ANC and the league who "went to defend" Malema's house in Seshego, near Polokwane in Limpopo, from "rascals".

Malema detractors drove around Seshego in the early hours on Thursday, taunting his supporters by carrying a tombstone fashioned from a cardboard box. It had the words "RIP Julius S Malema", "dictator" and "corrupted" written on it.

Malema, who was recently referred to as the "chief commander of economic freedom", was found guilty of sowing division in the ANC and of bringing the organisation into disrepute.

Malema reportedly said on Wednesday he would remain in Seshego as long as people were trying to attack his home.

Shivambu 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.

Malema, Shivambu and four other ANCYL leaders who were disciplined had two weeks to appeal against their sentences.

- SAPA