Gwede takes the stand

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe came face to face with his political arch enemy when he testified against Julius Malema and other ANC Youth League leaders on Friday.

Mantashe appeared before the ANC's national disciplinary committee to give evidence on the charge that Malema and his comrades stormed into a meeting of ruling party bosses last month.

Malema, his deputy Ronald Lamola, ANCYL secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa, his deputy Kenetswe Mosenogi and league treasurer Pule Mabe have pleaded not guilty to the charge.

They are all charged with the same offence; Malema faces three other charges as well.

On Friday they argued that it was Mantashe who had invited them to "come hear for yourselves" when they questioned why the ANC's top six officials had postponed a planned bilateral meeting between the two structures.

But Mantashe maintained during the hearing that his impression was that the league's leadership had stormed the meeting.

The meeting of the ANC's top six officials was attended by President Jacob Zuma, his deputy Kgalema Motlanthe, Mantashe, his deputy Thandi Modise and treasurer Mathews Phosa.

Last month the Sunday Times reported that Zuma was so incensed by the league's action that he blurted: "Who do you think you are? You think you run this country?" He then threw the youth league out of the meeting.

The disciplinary committee - headed by the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Derek Hanekom - will make a ruling on the group charge when the hearings resume on September 11.

The committee will also have to rule on the youth league's complaint that the committee had acted unprocedurally when it issued a statement this week announcing that Malema's application for all the charges against him to be withdrawn had been rejected.

Malema's legal team argued that the ANC constitution states that the committee should only make public the outcome of the disciplinary hearing, and not ongoing processes.

Malema's three separate charges arose from his comments that white people were "thieves" as they had "stolen" land from black people; his calling for "regime change" in Botswana; and his suggestion that the African Union had been weak since former president Thabo Mbeki was removed from power.

This last comment is seen by the ANC as an attack on Zuma's ability to play a leadership role at continental level.

Yesterday Hanekom announced that the proceedings would be postponed to next Sunday, and three days had been set aside for hearing the separate charges against Malema.

"The postponement was as a result of the availability of parties to the hearing. If time permits, the disciplinary hearing of comrade Sindiso Magaqa, who faces a single charge of misconduct, will be finalised in that period," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times has learnt that former youth league leaders are still seeking a "political solution" to the matter.

A senior government official said the former leaders had sought to meet Zuma about the process, but the meeting had not taken place. Among the former youth leaders are former secretary-general Vuyiswa Tulelo and former president Lulu Johnson.

Tulelo said this week that this was an internal matter.

"The reason why we didn't announce it is because we didn't want it to be known. There are some things that should remain internally in the ANC," said Tulelo, who refused to comment further. Johnson said: "These are matters of the movement, we cannot talk about them publicly".

But the ANC is unlikely to budge, with the party bosses' attitude being that the disciplinary committee should be allowed to do its work.