JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African President Jacob Zuma yesterday told the head of the ANC youth wing, who has stirred controversy with a series of racially tinged outbursts, that he must obey the ruling party’s discipline.
Youth leader Julius Malema has angered critics with his calls for nationalisation of South Africa’s mines and backing for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. This week he ejected a white journalist from a news conference with a barrage of racial abuse. Zuma castigated Malema on issues ranging from Zimbabwe, treatment of the media and his refusal to stop singing a song containing the words “Kill the Boer” that has been banned by the courts.
Zuma said Malema’s conduct and statements were totally alien to the culture of the African National Congress.
“The ANC Youth League is not an independent body. It exists within the umbrella policy and discipline of the ANC,” Zuma told a media briefing in Durban.
Malema has no policy-making role but has become prominent through his racial rhetoric and has a loyal following within the ANC Youth League and among some black South Africans who feel the end of apartheid should have delivered more.
Zuma rejected Malema’s comments that the Youth League would support President Robert Mugabe to win the next elections in Zimbabwe, where Zuma has been trying to mediate an end to a ruinous political crisis.
“We cannot and will not side with any one of the parties to the exclusion of others,” Zuma said, adding that he would continue to facilitate a resolution in Zimbabwe and to treat all parties with respect.
The ANC had already told Malema, 29, to avoid inflammatory language after the murder of white supremacist Eugene Terre’blanche stoked racial tensions. But Malema made clear on Thursday he would not be silenced. “We reiterate that leaders should think before they speak, as their utterances have wider implications for the country,” Zuma said, adding that Malema should respect the high court ruling banning the “Kill the Boer” song.
