The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in Limpopo is pulling out all the stops to get sympathy and support for the league’s ousted president Julius Malema.
Limpopo provincial youth league leaders invited the youth leaders of some of Africa’s celebrated liberation movements to speak at its centenary celebrations yesterday, held at the Nko****owa Stadium, outside Tzaneen.
The speakers featured Namibia’s South Western African People’s Organisation (Swapo) youth leader Dr Elijah Ngurare, Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF youth secretary general Lesley Ncube and Ghana’s National Democratic Congress youth leader Ludwig Hlodze.
All three of them heaped praise on Malema.
Ncube told thousands of people who had packed the Nko****owa Stadium to its rafters that “when you see Zanu-PF takes to the podium, we mean business. We are experienced in dealing with saboteurs”.
To Malema, he said: “When you cry, we shall cry with you. When you are happy, we shall be happy with you.
We will stand with you through thick and thin. Julius Malema, you shall prevail.
“Why do we vilify our own youth. If we had the capacity to forgive Boers who stole and killed us ... Has Julius ever killed anyone? We ought to put our house in order”.
National Treasury, Ncube said, will never be able to raise enough revenue unless it nationalises the mines. “As Zanu-PF we also have taken land from the hands of the minority to the majority and we are unapologetic about it.”
Malema has claimed that his calls for the nationalisation of mines have led to the disciplinary action against him.
Hlodze said the whole of Africa was worried about what was happening within the ANC. “We look up to the ANC and when we see difficulties in the ANC we worry. ANC leaders shouldn’t see the youth league as competitors but as partners.”
Ngurare was equally supportive of Malema. “Why prosecute him? Why persecute him? What is happening to South Africa is sending the wrong message to the sub-region. It is a sad day when an elder of a household expels his children instead of dealing with them. Elders should support freedom fighters and not expel them.
Comrades, we are in solidarity with you. We salute you and leadership that is youth-friendly,” he said.
Malema, who arrived at the stadium with deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale and other provincial leaders smiled quietly as Ncube, Ngurare and Hlodze praised him. A handful of ANC supporters turned heads when they arrived in ANC shirts stating “Motlanthe for president”.
The ANCYL in Limpopo is pushing for Motlanthe to take over as president of the ANC from President Jacob Zuma in Mangaung later this year. They are also pushing for Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula to replace Gwede Mantashe as the party’s secretary-general.
Motlanthe’s appearance alongside Mathale and Malema was interpreted by some as the official launch of his campaign for the ANC’s presidency. Mathale went as far as introducing Motlanthe as the “next president of this country”. A song blaring from loud speakers asked Motlanthe to “respond to the call to be made president”.
