Zuma backs off chastising youth leader

South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, appeared to back down yesterday from publicly disciplining its outspoken youth league leader, Julius Malema.

After two days of speculation that the leadership would rein in the 29-year-old firebrand, who has ignored pleas from President Jacob Zuma to avoid further inflammatory statements, the ANC said it would be keeping the matter in house.

"There is no way we are going to have any disciplinary hearing in public," the ANC deputy secretary-general, Thandi Modise, said yesterday.

The announcement came after half a dozen of the party's senior leadership, including the President, met late into the night to discuss formal disciplinary charges including ill-discipline and bringing the party into disrepute.

Yesterday Modise said the "matter was on the table" but would be dealt with internally.

In recent weeks the youth league leader has embarrassed the Government by calling Zimbabwe's former opposition MDC "imperialists"; by ignoring ANC demands to stop singing a controversial song with the words "kill the Boer"; and by angrily ejecting a BBC journalist from a press conference, calling him a "bastard" and a "bloody agent".

This led Zuma to openly chastise Malema last week.

Yesterday there was widespread confusion as to whether Malema was now off the hook. Modise said charges "were not yet formulated" but another ANC official said privately that the matter had been dropped.

The latest retreat from a difficult confrontation will only add to pressure on Zuma, who is accused by his critics of failing to take big decisions.

The President, who has faced his own internal crises after revelations about his private life, has tried to please all sides in the warring ANC factions.

Media reports said Malema had received a letter summoning him to a disciplinary hearing to answer formal charges ranging from promoting racism, tribal chauvinism, sexism, religious and political intolerance, to inciting violence and breaking party discipline.

Usually such offences would incur expulsion from the party, a fine or a severe censure.

- INDEPENDENT