FULL TEXT: Malema's media conference

2010-02-22 14:27

Cape Town - African National Congress Youth League President Julius Malema called a media conference on Monday to address the recent media reports about him. Read the full text of his speech below:

The African National Congress Youth League has noted various media reports about our militant, fighting, radical and forever disciplined youth organisation. Under normal circumstances, we were not going to dignify the misrepresentations and lies spread through Newspapers, but because some of the sentiments spread have potential to undermine our integrity as leadership of young people in South Africa, we have to clarify. We have to clarify these allegations particularly to ANC Youth League members and supporters of the ANC so that they are not fed wrong, misleading and damaging information by the Newspapers.

*ON NATIONALISATION *

The ANC Youth League accepts the assertion by the ANC and South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma in his response to Parliamentary questions that currently, Nationalisation of Mines is not government’s policy, and that no one should attempt to stop the ANC Youth League from raising the debate.

We accept the President's assertion because we are aware that currently, Nationalisation of Mines is not government policy. The reason the ANC YL is raising the debate of Nationalisation of Mines in ANC structures, is because we want to and will influence a concrete ANC resolution to guide government on how Nationalisation of Mines should happen in South Africa. If Nationalisation was government policy, it would be unnecessary for the ANC YL to call for the Nationalisation of Mines.

It remains the ANC Youth League's conviction that Nationalisation of Mines will happen not in the distant future. Investors, businessmen, government bureaucrats and mining practitioners should begin to adjust to the reality that the democratic State is going to have greater control and ownership of minerals and the actual process of Mining in South Africa. The President of the ANC and RSA will never stop the debate on nationalisation of Mines. He will instead make input into the question of how to all South Africans benefit from the country’s mineral endowments.

The President of the ANC is a seasoned, disciplined cadre of the movement and will not go out of organisational principles and protocol because he understands the ANC. He understands that the ANC gives government policy directives and that those who intend to influence government, should first influence the ANC.

*ON THE 2012 CONFERENCE OF THE ANC*

The ANC YL has noted the allegations by NUMSA leadership that the ANC Youth League has begun with discussion for the 2012 Conference of the ANC. We will begin with the succession debate at the right moment and rest assured our view on who will lead the ANC will be the winning view. We refuse to be dragged into a succession debate by any organisation or individual, because we know how divisive a succession battle can be. We will never be secretive about our engagement on who should lead the ANC for another 5 years from 2012, because the official Constitutional term of office in the ANC is 5 years. There in no leader in the ANC, including the Secretary General that is elected into office for more than 5 years.

*ON LIFESTYLE AUDIT*

The ANC Youth League is totally behind the lifestyle audit of public representatives, senior government officials or any other individual whom our law enforcement institutions believe should be audited. Legitimate law enforcement institutions should be empowered to audit individuals who accumulate wealth in a manner that cannot be explained. This should however happen to all people, not selected individuals who are audited in order to satisfy narrow factional politics and ambitions.

There is no doubt that the ANC Youth League is one of the most influential and decisive bodies of opinion in South Africa. The ANC Youth League will over the next two to three years influence major policy shifts in the ANC and Government, including on the Nationalisation of Mines. The ANC Youth League will also have a substantially decisive influence on who leads the African National Congress from 2012 onwards and anybody who believes otherwise is daydreaming.

Because of this potential influence, those who own the means of production (Mine Owners in particular) and those who think the ANC Youth League will not support them for election and re-election into ANC leadership in 2012 have merged to try and discredit the leadership of the Youth League. These forces of reaction believe that discrediting the leadership of the ANC Youth League will erase our integrity and therefore weaken our determination to influence policy and leadership of the ANC and government. We will never fall into their trap and will be more determined to fight for a more radical ANC in both policy outlook and leadership.

Because certain allegations have been made as per the sources of the income of the President of the Youth League, we wish to put the record straight and clarify all the allegations because there is nothing to hide.

   1. Since my election as President of the ANC Youth League in 2008, I
   instructed my Lawyers to process my resignations from all the corporations
   and companies I was involved in when I was based in Limpopo Province. I
   issued the instruction because I vowed to dedicate all my time to serve and
   give undivided attention to the ANC Youth League as a full time President. I
   from 2008 stopped being an active director of the companies that I was
   previously involved in because all my time was dedicated to the service of
   the organisation. I refused to take any other responsibility, including
   going to Parliament, because I committed to work for the ANC on a full time
   basis as mandated by the 23rd National Congress of the Youth League.
   2. Contrary to all the media reports, the property I own as an individual
   is being financed by banks in South Africa and a monthly deduction is made
   from my salary to pay for the bond. I have never bought any house for cash
   because I am not in a position to do that.
   3. I currently own one car.
   4. I have never engaged in any illegal tender awarding process, as I have
   never occupied any position in government, both as a public representative
   or public servant.
   5. The salary that the African National Congress gives me is way above
   R20 000, but will not disclose the exact amount because the contact I have
   signed with the ANC does not allow me to disclose my salary.

As an individual, I take serious exception for being audited by Media institutions through spreading of lies and rumour. Spreading lies and rumours that I have millions puts both me and my family in danger as criminals might believe the lies and resort to criminal victimisation against myself and my family with the hope that I have money. I will take legal action against The Star newspaper and consider doing the same with other newspapers.

As the leadership of the ANC Youth League, we remain committed to selfless service of our people, particularly the working class and poor. Our inspiration and programmes are forever inspired by the suffering of our people. We have a responsibility as a nation, particularly as Africans to teach ourselves that the success and progress of blacks in the post democratic dispensation is not always a result of criminality.

The ANC Youth League is against corruption and we will forever expose instances of corruption whenever we encounter such. Unlike some in the movement, the ANC Youth League will not use media to expose corrupt individuals amongst us, we will go straight to the police and report corrupt people who masquerade as working class leaders.