Hawks to decide on Malema

The Hawks are studying a docket on ANC Youth League p resident Julius Malema to determine if there are grounds for a full investigation.

The docket relates to corruption charges laid by AfriForum against Malema this week following media allegations that he has been using a family trust to receive money from businessmen who benefit from government tenders.

Last night, the SABC reported that Malema was considering taking legal action to clear his name following the City Press exposé.

"We have a senior person who is studying the docket," Hawks spokesman McIntosh Polela said yesterday.

Polela said the head of the commercial crime unit, assisted by other senior officers, will determine whether there are grounds for a full investigation.

"We will make a decision and it will not take a long time. We won't, however, give a blow-by-blow account of how the investigation progresses. We need to afford people the rights they have, like all South African citizens," Polela said.

Last week, City Press reported that the Ratanang family trust, named after Malema's five-year-old son, could offer insights into how he bankrolls his opulent lifestyle.

The trust, which the newspaper said was registered in 2008, soon after Malema was elected league president, owns a R900000 3.5ha farm near Polokwane.

Malema's extravagant lifestyle came under the spotlight recently when it was revealed that he had demolished his R3.6-million Sandton house to clear the way for a R16-million mansion.

When questioned, Malema told journalists: "My money is none of your business."

At a press conference on Monday the league failed to respond to questions about the trust. Instead, league deputy president Ronald Lamola and secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa laid into the media, accusing them of diverting attention from the league's calls for the nationalisation of mines and the expropriation of land without compensation.

Magaqa denied the trust was secret, saying it donated funds to charity organisations.

The DA has asked the Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, to investigate Malema.