Business Day
*Hints at new charges over shower song for Malema* *Bekezela Phakathi, Business Day, Johannesburg, 20 December 2011*THE South African Communist Party (SACP) in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday said it would be surprised if additional charges were not brought against beleaguered African National Congress (ANC) Youth League president Julius Malema.
Mr Malema, who is already facing a five-year suspension from the ANC, joined in the singing of anti-Zuma songs at the ANC's Limpopo conference at the weekend. He also held his hand over his head to represent a shower head --- an indirect reference to Mr Zuma's 2006 rape trial.
However, SACP provincial secretary Themba Mthembu said yesterday the provincial executive was not necessarily calling for action to be taken against Mr Malema. "All we are saying is that we will be surprised if action is not taken against him. It is for the ANC to decide."
ANC national spokesman Jackson Mthembu said the party was awaiting an official report on what transpired at the Limpopo conference. "We have deployed people, we will wait for their report and then take it from there," he said.
Anti-Zuma songs at the conference proclaimed "showara wa re sokodisa" (the shower man is giving us a hard time). Cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro usually depicts Mr Zuma with a shower head attached to his head --- after Mr Zuma told a court in 2006 he had taken a shower after having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman.
The re-election of Mr Malema's key ally, Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale, as provincial ANC chairperson, gives the youth league leader a political lifeline and base from which he can mount a comeback.
Mr Mthembu said the SACP in KwaZulu-Natal had also discussed governance and the "sustained attack" on the office of the president.
"This sustained attack manifests itself inside the ruling party in the form of new tendencies, and externally in the form of the civil society through (an) antimajoritarian, liberal offensive against the government and particularly the president of the republic," Mr Mthembu said.
He said the SACP in the province believed Public Protector Thuli Madonsela was interfering with parliamentary processes and was now "crossing the line and had developed into a useful tool for the forces that are against this government..."
Earlier this month, ANC chief whip Mathole Motshekga said it appeared that Ms Madonsela might be interfering in the legislative process after reportedly raising concerns with speaker Max Sisulu over the information bill.
Yesterday, Ms Madonsela's office said she "noted with concern what appears to be the politicisation of her office's role in the parliamentary process relating to (the bill).
"In an effort to insulate her office from what appears to be an unnecessary political storm, (she) has decided to delink her engagement with Parliament from the efforts of civil society, including representatives of the media," said spokesman Oupa Segalwe.
With Sapa [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> *From: http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/Content.aspx?id=161429* * * -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
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