"I will lead this ANC. You must put it on the archive. I am going to be a leader of the African National Congress," he said a news conference in Johannesburg.
It was his first media briefing since he was expelled from the ANC on April 24. The event was arranged by the National Press Club.
"It doesn't matter what time it takes, I will lead the African National Congress," he said.
"For a diamond to shine it goes through a thorough process of being polished."
Asked what he meant by "leader", Malema said he was speaking about being on a structure like a provincial executive committee, as he had done before in his home province of Limpopo.
He said he had returned to Johannesburg, not because he was interested in reclaiming the league presidency alone, but because the youth league had summoned him from Limpopo, where he had been tending cattle.