Make or break as Julius Malema faces hearing

ANC Youth League president Julius Malema will cut a lonely yet defiant figure this morning as he enters day one of his make-or-break disciplinary hearing.

ANC Youth League president Julius Malema will cut a lonely yet defiant figure this morning as he enters day one of his make-or-break disciplinary hearing.

The firebrand leader was all hyped-up during a press conference yesterday afternoon even as his high-profile legal team still scrambled to get documents from the ANC disciplinary committee.

Malema is the first of five youth league top brass to face the music today.

In a bid to have a water-tight defence case, his seasoned senior counsel, Patric Mtshaulana, assisted by Terry Motau, convened a last-minute meeting with him yesterday afternoon to fine-tune their presentations.

ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said while Malema will be the first to appear before the disciplinary committee this morning, he will be followed by his spokesman, Floyd Shivambu, tomorrow.

Though it was initially reported that Malema is to face two charges - of bringing the ruling party into disrepute and sowing division within party ranks - The Times has reliably learned that he is facing four charges, which are extensively detailed in the charge sheet.

The charges which will be read out to Malema this morning relate to:

• His comment last month calling for the overthrow of the government of Botswana. Malema said the youth league would establish a "command team" to work towards a united opposition against the "puppet regime" of President Ian Khama;
• Labelling whites "criminals" during a pre-election rally in Kimberley in May, when he said: "We must take the land without paying. They took our land without paying. Once we agree they stole our land, we can agree they are criminals and must be treated as such";
• Praising former president Thabo Mbeki, saying that since his departure from the deliberations of the Southern African Development Community and the African Union, African leadership had declined.

And, though his legal team confirmed that they had by late yesterday afternoon not been provided with the evidence that will be used in the hearing, The Times has learned that some of the material that will be presented will include articles printed in newspapers, and audio and visual recordings obtained from, among others, the SABC.

The charge sheet, according to those close to the process, was very detailed and carefully drafted so as to prevent a repeat of last year's disciplinary hearing against Malema when a new charge sheet had to be formulated at the last minute after it was found to be irregular.

Mtshaulana confirmed that he had asked for more documents from the ANC so that he could finalise his defence by the end of yesterday.

"They have not told us what they are going to use as evidence. We have asked them for more documents. We want documents on each charge and what policy of the ANC is breached.

"We want each document that does indeed show any breach of policy as a fact."

Mtshaulana, a former MK combatant-in-exile, said he had been involved in the case since only "a few days ago" but it was a "significant case" that required much focus.

"It's a very difficult case because the whole country is hanging on a thread."

Mtshaulana said the decision to represent Malema had not been easy because, "I was not happy, I was reluctant to proceed, but I want to do it in a dignified way that will protect the ANC."

He stressed that, "The ANC has a right to charge its members. The leaders may be wrong in charging the person. However, the process will lead to the right decision."

Political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi said today's hearing is no longer about discipline, but it could leave one of the two main players, Zuma or Malema, in the political wilderness, depending on who came out of it with the upper hand.

"I think we have passed a stage where this is about discipline within the party. We have entered a stage where it is about a fight to the bitter end."

Matshiqi said the battle was now political and linked to the ANC elective conference in Mangaung next year. He said that, whoever wins between the Malema faction or the Zuma backers, "a much more unstable ANC lies ahead".

"The winner [between Zuma and Malema] is not going to be content by winning on points, they would rather want to win by a knockout."

Zuma is on an official visit to Oslo in Norway and the outcome of Malema's case will have a direct bearing on his leadership of the party.

Looking relaxed but defiant yesterday, Malema said the outcome of the disciplinary hearing was not significant, and that the future of his national executive committee will be in the hands of the ANC.

"The DC of the ANC is not the end of the road.

"Whatever the outcomes of the DC, the political leadership will still have to take a political decision on all these things that we are talking about.

"For now, the leadership can't speak because the matter is before the DC and all that.

"So, at the end of everything, the leadership will have to re-examine the whole thing and take a decision, and that will be the final decision."

Malema dismissed reports that ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa had turned his back on the youth league. Phosa represented Malema at his disciplinary hearing last year.