Influential ANC youth leader's guilty verdicts upheld, gets 2nd chance on suspension The USA Times

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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Influential ANC youth leader's guilty verdicts upheld, gets 2nd chance on suspension

JOHANNESBURG - A controversial South African youth leader will get a chance to argue against a possibly career-ending suspension.

The governing African National Congress party's disciplinary committee had handed Julius Malema a five-year suspension in November, saying he had sown intolerance and disunity within the party.

An ANC appeals body said Saturday the violations had been proven, but that Malema should get another hearing on his punishment.

Malema's youth wing is known for getting voters to the polls and using its weight to choose party leaders. Malema is credited with helping President Jacob Zuma come to power in 2009.

The ANC has won every national election in South Africa, and most provincial and local votes since apartheid ended in 1994.