Malema made a quiet entrance at the three-day event being held at the St George's conference centre in Pretoria. As soon as he was on stage, delegates broke out into loud singing before he started his opening speech.

ANCYL deputy president Ronald Lamola introduced Malema as the "chief commander of the economic freedom fighters".

The country's Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe was also expected to speak.

Delagates toyi-toyed and sang before the conference started. Some of the songs being sung were "Bloemfontein 2012, we are voting for Malema" and "The shower man is troubling us", a reference to President Jacob Zuma.

The event would be Malema's first public appearance since the ANC announced last Saturday that his appeal against his five-year suspension from the ANC had been rejected.

He, however, remains a party member until arguments in mitigation of his sentence have been concluded.