Speaking in Bushbuckridge, Malema told the crowd they should not allow fear to stop them from demanding economic freedom and better living conditions.

"Nelson Mandela and his generation were regarded as disrespectful. They were impatient and wanted change now. Comrades, you have a responsibility to change the living conditions of our people and you must not be afraid. Even if some of us can be expelled from the organisation, do not be afraid. We'll be inspired by you when you demand land and economic freedom."

Malema launched a veiled attack on his bitter rivals in the ANC, telling the cheering crowd to invade Nelspruit and demand that the university promised by the government be built.

"Anybody who promised you the university and never acted must never be a friend of the people of Mpumalanga because he promised you lies. He only wanted votes.

"And now 2014 is coming and we'll be having another round of elections and there is no university."

In his State of the Nation speech a week ago, Zuma promised to allocate R300-million to the building of universities in Mpumalanga and Northern Cape.

Malema said individuals in the ANC were responsible for the current turmoil in the youth league. He said those who were against the league should not be voted for.

"We must have faith in the ANC. The problems the ANC Youth League has are not because of the ANC, [they are because of] individuals in the ANC. Their time is coming. Every five years there is a conference.

"Those who are troubling us must never get a cross [vote] from us. You must refuse with your cross, especially for those who are misusing the structures of the ANC to pursue their personal interests.

"Even if they expel us from the ANC, we are the children of the ANC."

He vowed to remain a supporter of the ANC even if he were expelled.

"We'll still wear T-shirts of the ANC and nobody will stop us. We'll still attend rallies of the ANC and clap hands for those who speak sense and the truth. They are expelling us as members and not as supporters," he said.

He regarded the looming action against him as the banishing of the voice of the league and the young.

"The only thing we want from the branches of the ANC is the unbanning of the youth league because the league is the lifeblood of the ANC. Without the youth league, the ANC will be weak."

Ending its three-day national executive committee meeting yesterday , the Young Communist League aligned itself with the Zuma camp ahead of the ANC's elective conference in Mangaung later this year. Members sang a song dismissing Malema's call for change in the ANC's top six leadership.

"We don't want Malema, we don't want [Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile] Mbalula, we don't want [Deputy President Kgalema] Motlanthe. We want Msholozi [Zuma's clan name], we want [ANC secretary-general Gwede] Mantashe," they sang.

The song is likely to lead to a confrontation with the ANC Youth League, which wants Mantashe to be replaced by Mbalula, and Motlanthe to take over from Zuma.