A showdown is expected today at the ANC's national working committee, when supporters of ANC Youth League president Julius Malema demand that charges against him be dropped.
The Times has established that Malema's supporters in the committee - including Tony Yengeni, Fikile Mbalula, Bathabile Dlamini and Lindiwe Sisulu - will demand access to minutes of the meeting where a decision was taken to charge Malema.
They contend that the decision to charge Malema was not taken at an official meeting. Instead, they hold ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe responsible for charging Malema.
The youth league leader is to appear before a disciplinary hearing on May 3, after complaints were received that he had disobeyed the ANC.
Senior party members who will attend today's meeting, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Mantashe must produce the minutes of the official meeting.
Last Friday, Luthuli House issued an extraordinary statement, in which it defended Mantashe's decision to charge Malema.
In it, individuals in the ANC and youth league were blamed for seeking to "politicise" the Malema case.
"This matter cannot by any stroke of imagination be linked to any imagined political contestation or preferences in any ANC conference.
"The fact that the ANC secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, initiated the disciplinary proceedings in terms of the ANC constitution, clearly foregrounds the responsibility of the ANC secretary-general in dealing with deviant behaviour among ANC members and leaders," ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said.
He said Mantashe was the "engine of the organisation" and was tasked with the responsibility to act against those who act against the party constitution.
He said the process now lay with the ANC's national disciplinary committee.
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