02:49 GMT 21st December 2011
Malema was stripped of his ANCYL leadership position and suspended from the ruling party for a period of five years in midNovember after being found guilty of provoking serious divisions within the ANC and bringing the party into disrepute.
The charges against Malema related to him deliberately disrupting a meeting of ANC officials along with four other youth league leaders in August this year, and to comments made about president Thabo Mbeki and bringing about regime change in Botswana.
Elaborating on the charges, disciplinary committee chair Derick Hanekom said at a youth league meeting on July 31 Malema suggested that when Mbeki was South African president he had opposed attempts to recolonise Africa, unlike what was occurring under Zuma's administration.
'However, the suggestion that the administrations after comrade Mbeki have relegated or abandoned an African agenda and thereby aided and abetted the imperialist agenda that seeks to recolonise Africa is untrue and portrays the current ANC government and the leadership under President Zuma in a negative light and therefore has the potential to sow division and disunity,' Hanekom said, reading from a statement.
In relation to Malema and the youth league's statements about regime change in Botswana, Hanekom said it was a 'careless' utterance that brought the ANC into disrepute both at home and abroad.
He was found not guilty of sowing racial or political intolerance. Five other youth league leaders charged with Malema were also suspended from the ruling party for between two and three years. However, four of them received a stay of execution on the sentence.
The ANC disciplinary committee has insisted the charges brought against Malema were motivated by his recent conduct, and the severity of the punishment related to the fact he had a suspended sentence already hanging over his head.
A little over 18 months ago, Malema was hit with internal charges by the ANC for his endorsement of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe over his political rivals even though Zuma was trying to mediate between the two groups; and for swearing at BBC journalist Jonah Fisher during a youth league press conference.
He subsequently pleaded guilty, and in a plea bargain received a two-year suspended sentence held in abeyance for three-years on the condition he was not found guilty of the same offence during that time.
However, many people believe the charges are politically motivated, and can be traced back to the firebrand youth league leader's decision to turn against Zuma, a man he once publicly claimed he would 'kill for'.
Malema had been a close ally of Zuma's since he became the youth league's president in 2008. But recendy the 31-year-old has become one of the president's biggest critics, accusing him of ignoring poor South Africans and lambasting his relatives for making large sums of money from their political connections.
He has openly called for Zuma to be replaced as party leader ahead of the 2014 presidential elections, saying the league wants deputy president Kgalema Morlan the to take over from him, and sports minister Fikile Mbalula to replace ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe.
In addition, Zuma's government has faced continuous calls from the youth league to adopt radical economic policies that go against the government's free market approach.
Malema and his supporters believe that nationalisation of the mines and land expropriation without compensation is the best way to redistribute wealth to the poor black majority who have failed to prosper in postapartheid South Africa.
However, government ministers say his utterances are scaring off international investors.
Analysts believe his decision to oppose the president's bid for a second term in office is what ultimately led to his downfall, as he was a threat that needed to be neutralised.
Malema, who was not present when the verdict was handed down at ANC headquarters in Johannesburg because he was sitting an exam in Polokwane, Limpopo province, has since indicated he will not take the suspension lying down.
In an interview with Carte Blanche, an investigative journalism programme on E.TV, shordy before he was suspended, Malema said he would appeal the ANC disciplinary committee's decision to the highest levels in the ruling party.
'I will appeal to the N DC [National Disciplinary committee] ... and if I lose then I will appeal to the ANC NEC [National Executive Committee] .. . or if that fails I will petition the national congress of the ANC, which is the highest body,' Malema said in the interview.
'I have no problem ... I have followed all the proper channels ... I will never take ANC to court ... if the appeal fails, then I will accept that it will be the end of my political career.'
The weekend after Malema was suspended he met with his youth league executive to formulate an official response to the ANC's decision to remove them from power.
And it was reported on the following Monday by Business Dqy that Malema had set up a committee to plot his comeback strategy.
The newspaper quoted unnamed sources that said this included bringing supporters to Durban to try and disrupt the ten-day UN climate change conference, COP17, which starts in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial capital at the end of November.
The publication said that heckling Zuma when the ANC's 100th birthday celebrations kick off in Mangaung, Free State province, in January was also suggested as a tactic. Funds to support their strategies would be sought abroad, since local support had dried up, the newspaper added.
On November 16 at Luthuli House, the ANC headquarters in Johannesburg, Malema and his youth league colleagues held a press conference in which they officially confirmed their intention to appeal their suspensions.
Malema said that if certain sections of the ANC leadership wanted to neuter him politically they needed to fire him from the former liberation party, as 'resigning is not an option'.
He continued that few people believed the disciplinary hearing was purely about discipline, and 'not intended to setde political scores and stifle debate' ahead of the party's elective conference next year at Mangaung.
'There were always signs [before the hearing took place] that the decision was to suspend the leadership,' he said.
'A decision to convict and sanction the ANC Youth League leadership was taken by the ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, who made his intentions clear in all his statements.'
Mantashe, one of Zuma's close allies, had said the youth league had 'crossed a line' prior to the start of the disciplinary hearing.
'Saying someone crossed a line is a verdict,' Malema pointed out.
Malema claimed his defence team was not allowed to present mitigating arguments at the hearing and he concluded the appeal process would be 'hollow' if he and his coaccused could not present their extenuating circumstances then.
Most political analysts say Malema will find it difficult to overturn his suspension at the appeal level, and they believe if he is to successfully regain his position at the head of the youth league, he will need senior ANC members to publicly support him.
During the disciplinary hearing, ANC stalwart and minister for human setdements, Tokyo Sexwale, and Winnie MadikizelaMandela, Nelson Mandela's former wife, both testified on his behalf. But since then he has received litde public support from members of the ANC's NEC.
Malema will also need to harness a groundswell of public support, especially amongst his youth constituency, to show the ANC he still holds sway with the masses.
The week before the disciplinary committee handed down its verdict Malema and his youth league led an economic free march from Johannesburg to Union Buildings, in Pretoria, which was supported by up to 8,000 people.
But a TNS survey released in late November suggests that on the whole he can expect litde support from ordinary South Africans. The poll found that 70 per cent of respondents agreed the ANC's verdict to suspend Malema was justified.
Indeed, his suspension has been widely welcomed by minority and civil society groups who believe he is a divisive character who has damaged the nation's reputation.
Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Mulder said South Africa was 'a better place' for Malema's removal from the political arena.
'With his comments about nationalisation he frightened international investors away, while his racial views further marred relations in South Africa,' he said.
In addition to his political woes, Malema may also be further undone by allegations that he has amassed millions of rands that have been channelled through a family trust fund in return for influencing the awarding of government tenders in his home province of limpopo.
Although he has pleaded his innocence, he faces an ongoing investigation into his financial affairs by the police, the anti-corruption task team, which includes the Special Investigating Unit and the revenue commissioner, and the public protector.
If enough evidence is gathered against him, he could be criminally charged.
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