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Home , Julius Malema

Legalbrief | your legal news hub Saturday 02 October 2021

Malema cop-out slammed by ANC opponents

While the ANC said it thought the disciplinary hearing of Youth League leader Julius Malema had been a success, almost everyone else sees it as a cop-out, writes Legalbrief.

Political parties and civil rights group all expressed concern on the dropping of some of the charges Malema had originally faced, says a report in The Times. The DA said dropping three of the four charges showed democratic principles counted for nothing in the ruling party. 'The ANC has made it clear that democratic principles such as freedom of expression, the rule of law and democracy count for nothing when compared to deference and obsequiousness, on which the ruling party clearly places a far greater emphasis,' the DA's Khume Ramulifho says. Malema was hauled before the ANC disciplinary hearing for publicly supporting Zimbabwean President 's Zanu-PF party, calling a BBC journalist a 'bastard' and a 'bloody agent', and singing 'shoot the boer' after it was banned by a High Court. However, all of these charges were withdrawn during proceedings after a plea bargain was reached with Malema's representative, Mathews Phosa. Malema was, however, found guilty on the charge relating to his public attack on Zuma. He also pleaded guilty to this. Civil rights organisation AfriForum says the outcome of Malema's disciplinary hearing confirmed the need for an Equality Court case against him. The organisation's leader is quoted as saying the withdrawal of the charge regarding singing dubula ibhunu (kill the boer) is cause for concern. 'It's an indication of the ANC's nonchalant attitude towards the independence of the judiciary and their support for the song. The fact that important issues have been completely ignored means that we now have to continue our battle against Malema's hate speech in all earnest,' he says. A report in Die Burger says the SA National Editors Forum said it regretted the decision not to punish Malema for his tirade towards a BBC journalist. 'The finding shows that the ANC condones his attitude towards the media and that the ANC reconciles itself with Malema's conduct.' Full report in Die Burger Full report in The Times

DA parliamentary leader took aim at President , saying he had allowed SA's political discourse to sink to the gutter by failing to act firmly against Malema. 'Your lack of decisive leadership regarding the unacceptable behaviour of the ANC Youth League, and its leadership in particular, has allowed the South African political discourse to descend into the gutter,' Trollip said during the debate on the President's budget vote. According to a report on the IoL site, Trollip said he wondered whether Zuma finally rebuked Malema after a string of ill-judged outbursts because he had revealed the ANC's bias towards President Robert Mugabe in the standoff between parties in 's unity government. 'Was it the fact that he spoke the unspeakable about supporting Mugabe and Zanu PF or, more sinisterly put, the fact that he said what the ANC silently wishes should happen in Zimbabwe?' Full report on the IoL site

Zuma also took flak on another front, with ID leader disputing his view that the Constitution is not under threat. 'You only need to look at the number of constitutional judgments against government to see that you are wrong,' she told the National Assembly, notes a report on the IoL site. Equally worrying was government's complete lack of understanding of ethical governance as enshrined in the Constitution. 'The number of times we hear leaders say that all these unethical and corrupt practices are not illegal and that no one is breaking the law are becoming too many to count, for example, Chancellor House, Petro SA and others. 'What we must remember, Mr President, is that the struggle was not just about overcoming apartheid, it was also about building a strong, ethical and value-based society where leaders put the people before their own pockets,' De Lille said. Full report on the IoL site

ANC secretary-general has been bruised by the Malema hearing, according to a report in The Times. It says that in their written submission to the party's National Disciplinary Committee (NDC), Malema's defence team argued that the ANC's constitution clearly stated that a charge 'must be prepared by the presenter on behalf of the organ or officials of the ANC instituting the disciplinary proceedings'. A 'presenter', in terms of the ANC constitution, is the person who prosecutes the case for the party before the committee. In this instance, it would have been Luthuli House staff member Uriel Abrahmse, not Mantashe. It is still not known why Mantashe decided to draw up the charges himself and send them to the committee. Three of the charges against Malema were scrapped. The Times interpretation of events is that the NDC and Malema's team agreed to a new, compromise charge to which the Youth League leader would plead guilty once they realised the political damage that would have been caused to Zuma and the ANC if all the charges had been withdrawn. The new charge was that Malema violated the ANC's constitution by 'behaving in such a way as to provoke serious divisions or a breakdown of the unity of the organisation'. This referred to remarks he made at a Youth League conference in last month. He accused Zuma of being worse than former President for publicly condemning his actions. Full report in The Times

Meanwhile, it's back to school for Malema, according to Business Day, which notes he will have to hit the books, swatting up on the history of the ANC and its allies when he attends his first 'political school', which kicks off in next week. Malema's classmates will be new recruits and trainers who will be inducted into the ways of the ANC over the next 18 months. ANC national executive committee member Febe Potgieter-Qubule, a member of the ANC's disciplinary committee who serves on the party's political education subcommittee, told the paper the school focused on 'structured' learning. Full Business Day report