Julius Malema contesta Zuma

Presidential friends and foes are keenly purging their factions and reaching for every weapon at hand
Fierce purges are under way in the governing African National Congress and its affiliates, paralysing the government and the organisations themselves. The clean-outs are reciprocal, among both opponents and supporters of President Jacob Zuma’s bid for a second term as ANC leader and as President (AC Vol 52 No 18, Disrespect for the President & AC Vol 52 No 19, The fight of the century). The bitterness is greater because he appears to be trying to sideline former allies who supported him in ousting ex-President Thabo Mbeki but have turned against the second-term bid which Zuma had promised not to make.
Zuma claimed on 18 October that, before the 2007 ANC Conference where he took the party leadership, someone had tried to assassinate him but the plot was foiled by a bodyguard who died last week. Only Zuma and the late bodyguard seem to have known about the plot. Former ANC communications chief Smuts Ngonyama a supporter of Mbeki, said the allegations were ‘hogwash’ and the police should investigate whether there really had been a plot. Some say Zuma is getting ready to deploy the security services against his opponents.
The President’s fiercest fight is with the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) and its leader Julius Malema, a rallying-point for Zuma’s former allies. As he awaits the result of the ANC’s disciplinary charges against him, Malema presents himself as a fighter for the poor against Zuma and the establishment. Zuma instigated the disciplinary charges after Malema had rattled investors by calling for the nationalisation of the mines (contrary to party policy) and also called for regime change in neighbouring Botswana. Malema has delayed the hearing, lobbying allies and mobilising support among the unemployed, the poor and the young. After pleading ‘flu-like symptoms’, he retired to hospital, turning it into his political headquarters.
At the final hearing, which had been put off until 26 October, Malema secured the positive testimony of party heavyweights against charges that he had brought the ANC into disrepute. Whatever their private opinions of Malema, this was an unmissable opportunity for them to strike against Zuma. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela lambasted him for ‘acting on his own’ without consulting party leaders. Human Settlements Minister Mosima Gabriel ‘Tokyo’ Sexwale said the ANC had previously accepted apologies from Zuma and his spokesman Jackson Mthembu, but declined to do so for Malema. Zuma’s apology was for having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman, Mthembu’s for drink-driving and neither had faced a disciplinary hearing. Closing arguments were due to be heard on 3 November.

Plans for a post-Zuma era
Zuma’s main rivals, Tokyo Sexwale and Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, are trying to fix it so that Motlanthe would be a one-term president, Sexwale would be his deputy and Paul Mashatile, Gauteng’s provincial leader and Premier, would be ANC national chairman. They may offer a deputy presidency to Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu, the Defence Minister and Zuma’s ally. Sisulu and Sexwale, however, do not get along.
An anti-Zuma tirade erupted from the General Secretary of the Congress of SA Trade Unions, Zwelinzima Vavi, who said there is leadership paralysis in the ANC and warned that the country is in danger of ‘imploding’. He criticised Zuma’s ‘doublespeak’ on economic issues.
In the latest attack on Malema, the special police unit known as the ‘Hawks’ and the SA Revenue Service intend to bring charges against him relating to allegations that contracts may have been improperly awarded to companies in which he has a close interest. He says he is keen to ‘explain these allegations in front of a magistrate’. It is widely believed that his Ratanangan Family Trust (whose profits are said to benefit some senior ANC leaders) may influence the award of government contracts in Limpopo Province. Malema certainly lives well. Just after his march for ‘economic freedom’ for the poor, he flew, all expenses paid, to Mauritius for the 10 million rand (US$1.25 mn.) wedding of his ally David Mabilu, a property tycoon. Another target of Zuma and his supporters is Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, the Youth League’s favourite to replace Gwede Mantashe as ANC General Secretary. Mbalula was forced to apologise to his family after the media were informed about his night of passion with a model.
http://www.africa-confidential.com/article/id/4216/Malema_and_Zuma_mass_their_armies