Right steps, wrong reasons

All eyes will be on Luthuli House this week as ANC Youth League president Julius Malema appears before the ruling party's national disciplinary committee charged with a range of violations of the ruling party's constitution.

Malema and various other leaders of the league have been charged for calling for "regime change" in neighbouring Botswana, as well as for creating divisions within the ranks of the ANC.

The disciplinary action comes as the crime-busting unit, the Hawks, and the office of the public protector confirm they have independently launched investigations into allegations of state tender corruption involving companies linked to Malema.

Such developments are to be welcomed, as there have been too many serious questions about how the firebrand youth league boss can afford his exorbitant lifestyle.

The decision by President Jacob Zuma and other senior ANC leaders to haul Malema and his comrades from the youth league before the disciplinary committee for his comments on Botswana - which have caused the country so much diplomatic embarrassment - is also a step in the right direction.

But the timing is suspicious.

South Africans have watched in frustration for months as Malema has insulted political opponents; fanned racial tensions and launched an assault on some of the country's economic and foreign-affairs policies with impunity.

Throughout all of this, Zuma and the ANC largely remained silent - allowing Malema to continue to wreak havoc.

But now that it has become clear Malema plans to have Zuma and ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe voted out of office during the ruling party's national conference in December next year, Luthuli House suddenly sees the urgency of reining in the wayward youth league leader.

While there is no reason to question the integrity of the Hawks, South Africa's recent history - where we saw state security agencies being used to settle political scores within the ANC - suggests that we should always be vigilant.

Since their establishment over two years ago, the Hawks have shown little appetite for investigating cases involving high-profile political individuals.

For months, opposition parties and civil society groups have been calling, in vain, on the specialised police unit to probe Malema and other ruling-party personalities who seem to live far beyond their means.

Let us hope that the Hawks' sudden willingness to act is not motivated by internal ANC political considerations.

State institutions should not be used to settle political scores - no matter who the target may be.