Zuma: ANC examining need for discipline

2011-08-19 18:00

Cape Town - The ANC's leaders are set to "examine the need for discipline" within the party's ranks, ruling party president Jacob Zuma said on Friday.

In an open letter to ANC members, he said the party's national executive committee (NEC) would meet over the next four days to discuss serious matters relating to organisation building and renewal.

"The special NEC meeting is intended to take place over four days, to allow members enough time to discuss organisational issues that we have not had time to tackle before due to time constraints and a usually packed agenda at ordinary NEC meetings.

"We have decided to have no formal agenda for this meeting so that NEC members can be free to raise any matter that they feel could be an obstacle or catalyst to the building of the ANC that the founding fathers and mothers sought to build when it was founded in 1912."

While the meeting of the party's highest decision-making body would look at better ways of promoting the ANC's core values, the ultimate objective was the make it the "organisation of choice" for one million South Africans by January 8 next year.

"We will also discuss the need for discipline within the ranks of the movement," Zuma said.

Malema matter in committee hands

Earlier on Friday, the ANC's national disciplinary committee released a statement confirming it had "served charges" on its youth league head, Julius Malema.

"Comrade Julius Malema has been charged with various violations of the ANC constitution, including bringing the ANC into disrepute through his utterances and statements on Botswana and sowing divisions in the ranks of the African National Congress."

It said the matter was now in the hands of the committee, which would determine a date, venue and time for a disciplinary hearing, at which Malema would have an opportunity "to defend himself against these charges".

The statement was issued by disciplinary committee head Derek Hanekom.

In his letter, Zuma said the ANC had increased its membership by 198 057 members in the past few months.

"At the last count, last month, our membership stood at 914 852 members."

Zuma said, among other things, that the ANC's youth league would "work harder to recruit more and more young people into the ANC, and make the organisation the natural political home of South African youth".

- SAPA