Business Day
*Things are not all going Malema's way in Limpopo* *Editorial, Business Day, Johannnesburg, 20 December 2011*CASSEL Mathale's re-election as chairman of the African National Congress (ANC) in Limpopo has been widely interpreted as an important victory for suspended ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, who faces five years in the political wilderness if he loses his appeal after being found guilty of bringing the party into disrepute.
Mr Mathale is one of his closest allies, so having him retain control of the province means Mr Malema keeps his power base, where he has extensive business interests reliant on provincial tenders.
It was instructive that Mr Malema's name was included on the list of additional members up for election to the ANC's Limpopo executive committee, despite the suspension hanging over his head, and that discussion documents handed out to delegates at the weekend conference raised a number of pointed questions concerning his future.
It is clear that Mr Mathale's supporters are seeking to carve out a niche for Mr Malema to occupy in the event that his appeal fails, going so far as to discuss calling for an amendment to the ANC's constitution to allow the youth league greater autonomy, particularly where the enforcement of disciplinary measures imposed by the mother organisation is concerned.
Mr Malema tried, and failed, during his disciplinary hearing to convince the committee deciding his fate that the league was quasi-independent of the ANC and its office-bearers should therefore not be subject to its discipline.
Limpopo's bid to reverse this ruling has little chance of gaining momentum within the ANC outside Limpopo, but it is a sign that Mr Malema and his allies are not going to roll over and accept the authority of Luthuli House --- or the party's disciplinary committee --- without a fight. Mr Malema's inclusion in the list of possible additions to the provincial executive committee will be little more than symbolic if his appeal fails, as is widely expected to be the case, but it sends a clear message to President Jacob Zuma in much the same way as did Mr Malema's active participation in the delegates' provocative "shower man" protest song on Saturday.
The gloves are off, he is telling Mr Zuma, and don't think for a moment that suspending me is going to give you a free ride to the ANC elective congress in Mangaung in a year's time. Given the way events unfolded at the weekend, it would be no great surprise, in the event that Mr Malema's suspension is confirmed on appeal, if he were to be "deployed" by Mr Mathale to some lucrative government post in Limpopo.
However, things are not all going Mr Malema's way. As irritating as the outcome of the Limpopo elective conference will have been to Mr Zuma, he will be encouraged by the fact that Mr Mathale, as the incumbent, managed to win by only 601 votes to the 519 secured by Deputy Arts and Culture Minister Joe Phaahla. This was despite indications that the playing field was tilted firmly in Mr Mathale's favour, with allegations that delegate IDs were forged by his supporters to boost the number of people eligible to vote. These were supported by a discrepancy between the numbers of registered delegates and votes cast.
If Mr Malema is only able to achieve a narrow victory for his chief ally under dubious circumstances in his home base, it would appear that Mr Zuma has little reason to worry that the other provinces are about to turn on him.
*From: http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/Content.aspx?id=161439* * * -- 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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