{"id":440012,"date":"2011-06-12T19:23:45","date_gmt":"2011-06-12T19:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/"},"modified":"2011-06-12T19:23:45","modified_gmt":"2011-06-12T19:23:45","slug":"ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruling Party Youth Prepare to Challenge Zuma"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

Southern Africa Report<\/a> (Johannesburg)<\/p>\n

9 June 2011<\/p>\n

\n

Having effectively secured his own second term as president of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League, Julius Malema will use next week’s elective conference to lay the groundwork to deny President Jacob Zuma the same thing.<\/p>\n

The enfante terrible of South African politics is likely to be elected unopposed at the youth league conference on 16 June — a date deeply symbolic of the power of the youth in South African politics.<\/p>\n

His election has been carefully orchestrated and has been long in the making. Since early 2010 his supporters have driven a relentless campaign in the provinces to force out all opposition to his candidacy ahead of the conference. Last weekend Malema effortlessly brushed aside the last attempt at opposition: Gauteng provincial MEC for Sport Lebogang Maile failed to secure any meaningful backing in his home province.<\/p>\n

Malema’s march to the June elective conference has been plagued by allegations of vote rigging. Delegates at several provincial conferences have threatened court action to overturn youth league head office rulings on the outcomes. In the Eastern Cape and Limpopo particularly Malema struggled to impose his candidates.<\/p>\n

In Limpopo the police had to be called in to ensure the conference installed Malema’s candidates. Ousted chairperson Lehlogonolo Masoga was threatened with a disciplinary hearing if he went ahead with his court action to challenge the outcome of the provincial conference which saw him removed from his position as chairperson.<\/p>\n

Eastern Cape delegates only managed to hold their conference at the third attempt. Malema-aligned candidates were defeated after both the league executive and the ANC ignored complaints of extensive delegate accreditation fraud and bribery.<\/p>\n

Support from key ANC figures — and turbulence in the ANC’s own provincial conferences — allowed Malema free rein in the league’s provincial elective conferences. His supporters on the ANC’s national working committee include former chief whip Tony Yengeni, Sports Minister and former youth league president Fikile Mbalula, Social Development Minister Batabile Dlamini, ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa, deputy-secretary general and North West provincial Premier Thandi Modise.<\/p>\n

The breakdown of internal democracy in the youth league is not new.<\/p>\n

Delegates to the 2008 conference at which Malema was first elected to the league presidency were bullied and brow-beaten into supporting Malema over rival candidate Saki Mofokeng. That conference too collapsed in chaos and had to be re-convened before Malema emerged victorious. The strong-arm tactics, patronage and vote rigging which characterised Malema’s rise to power have been entrenched in the league’s activities.<\/p>\n

Malema’s furious protection of his youth league position is driven largely by his ambition to play kingmaker in the ANC itself. He has mortgaged the league as a platform for ANC interests opposed to Zuma’s second-term ambitions. The youth league has been consistent and vocal in its opposition to Zuma serving a second term virtually since the 2007 Polokwane conference when he defeated former President Thabo Mbeki in Polokwane. Shortly after Zuma was inaugurated as South African president the league pushed for the ouster of ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe in favour of Mbalula — a thinly-veiled challenge to Zuma himself.<\/p>\n

The youth league’s antagonism towards Zuma stems in part from a claim by Mbalula, Malema’s predecessor, that Zuma breached an agreement reached ahead of the Polokwane conference that he would stand for only one term.<\/p>\n

By the youth league account, parties to the deal included Malema’s predecessor Mbalula (a prime mover in the campaign against Mbeki), Zuma, his deputy Kgalema Motlanthe and other key ANC figures. Thus, when Zuma publicly indicated his availability for a second ANC presidential term shortly after his 2009 inauguration as South African president, the league publicly opposed him.<\/p>\n

On its own the youth league has no chance of unseating Zuma. But there are several ambitious ANC national executive committee members with pretensions to the presidency — or to the political and commercial benefits of having helped elevate Zuma’s successor. Combined with the league, they constitute a formidable obstacle to Zuma’s plans to retain the presidency.<\/p>\n

Motlanthe has not declared his candidacy for the presidency at the ANC’s 2012 centenary conference. Several people close to him insist he has no presidential ambitions if it requires challenging the incumbent. But others, recalling how Motlanthe double-crossed Mbeki ahead of Polokwane, suggest he is keeping his powder dry.<\/p>\n

Attendance at the league conference next week will be widely read as a signal of how ready he is to become the league’s presidential champion.<\/p>\n

This is also true of other senior ANC figures.<\/p>\n

The league’s dalliance with Marxist rhetoric around nationalisation and uncompensated land reform also suggests that it will try to exploit the fallout between the ANC’s left-wing allies in the Cosatu trade union federation and the South African Communist Party.<\/p>\n

Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has vocally denounced Zuma-linked patronage. But he has yet to openly endorse an anti-Zuma candidate for the 2012 contest. His presence — and what he says — at the league’s conference will also be a key indication of his intentions (although not necessarily those of the entire Cosatu leadership). A Vavi endorsement, even an indirect endorsement, will give Motlanthe’s candidacy traction among a key left constituency.<\/p>\n

And it could embolden Malema to publicly endorse Motlanthe as the league’s preferred presidential candidate for 2012, despite an official ANC gag on public discussion on the presidential succession.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nMore News on allAfrica.com<\/strong><\/legend>\n<\/fieldset>\n

AllAfrica – All the Time<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Read the original:
\nRuling Party Youth Prepare to Challenge Zuma<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Southern Africa Report (Johannesburg) 9 June 2011 Having effectively secured his own second term as president of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League, Julius Malema will use next week’s elective conference to lay the groundwork to deny President Jacob Zuma the same thing. The enfante terrible of South African politics is likely to be elected unopposed at the youth league conference on 16 June — a date deeply symbolic of the power of the youth in South African politics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":399553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-440012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"yoast_head":"\nRuling Party Youth Prepare to Challenge Zuma - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Ruling Party Youth Prepare to Challenge Zuma - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Southern Africa Report (Johannesburg) 9 June 2011 Having effectively secured his own second term as president of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League, Julius Malema will use next week's elective conference to lay the groundwork to deny President Jacob Zuma the same thing. The enfante terrible of South African politics is likely to be elected unopposed at the youth league conference on 16 June -- a date deeply symbolic of the power of the youth in South African politics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Ruling Party Youth Prepare to Challenge Zuma\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-12T19:23:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/\"},\"wordCount\":929,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/\",\"name\":\"Ruling Party Youth Prepare to Challenge Zuma - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-12T19:23:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ruling Party Youth Prepare to Challenge Zuma - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Ruling Party Youth Prepare to Challenge Zuma - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"Southern Africa Report (Johannesburg) 9 June 2011 Having effectively secured his own second term as president of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League, Julius Malema will use next week's elective conference to lay the groundwork to deny President Jacob Zuma the same thing. The enfante terrible of South African politics is likely to be elected unopposed at the youth league conference on 16 June -- a date deeply symbolic of the power of the youth in South African politics","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Ruling Party Youth Prepare to Challenge Zuma","datePublished":"2011-06-12T19:23:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/"},"wordCount":929,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Local News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/","name":"Ruling Party Youth Prepare to Challenge Zuma - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2011-06-12T19:23:45+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/ruling-party-youth-prepare-to-challenge-zuma\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}