The Star
*Succession battle rages at ANCYL* /Fear and loathing is the order of the day/ * * *Michelle Pietersen, The Star, Johannesburg, 16 November 2011*While the ANC Youth League is to respond on Wednesday to the ANC's sanctions on members of its national executive, its president's grip on power is understood to be slipping as a succession battle rages in its top ranks.
Julius Malema is said to be in a state of paranoia, and his lieutenant, Floyd Shivambu, intensifying divisions by secretly pushing a campaign for deputy youth league president Ronald Lamola to take over from Malema when his reign ends. Many youth members and leaders believe this will happen sooner rather than later.
"Julius is vulnerable (and) does not know who to trust. He is losing his mind trying to figure out who is against him and who is for him," an ANC source said.
Divisions in the league were exposed when the ANC announced that its leaders had been found guilty of contravening the party's constitution.
The announcement that Malema was being suspended for five years and Shivambu for three sparked a frenzy among league leaders as they moved to secure their positions, in the event an appeal failed.
The league is expected to show a united front on Wednesday when it officially announces its fightback campaign, but it is understood that not all of the young lions are convinced that Malema is worth the fight.
Following their emergency meeting at the weekend, ANCYL national executive committee (NEC) members said the league leaders, for the sake of unity, would rally publicly behind Malema.
Some have expressed undying support for Malema and his co-accused, while others have said that efforts to save him are futile, with plans in the making for a future without him.
Some national youth leaders have said privately that Malema and his co-accused should not appeal against their sentences and that, for the sake of the organisation, Malema should be "sacrificed".
One NEC member described Malema's attempt to save his political skin as a "dead horse giving its last kick".
The consensus was that it was too little, too late for Malema, who was known to have ruled the league with an iron fist, making many enemies in doing so.
Fear and loathing are the order of the day, with the top five officials at each others' throats, insiders say.
It appears, however, that Lamola and youth league treasurer Pule Mabe are to face off for the top job.
Shivambu, ANC insiders have said, is waging a campaign against Mabe in a bid to propel Lamola into the top position. "(Shivambu) will want to rule from the grave and he will find Ronald useful in his personal business."
Shivambu's ambitions of becoming youth league secretary-general were thwarted earlier this year when delegates elected Sindiso Magaqa.
Magaqa was sanctioned by the ANC's national disciplinary committee for disparaging remarks he made about Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba and ordered to apologise publicly to the minister within five days of the ruling.
He has not done so because he intends appealing, which he must do within 13 days of the ANC national disciplinary committee's announcement of the verdict.
Shivambu's campaign against Mabe, a league source said, was aimed at casting aspersions on his integrity in the media, and to portray him as "power hungry" to the branches -- who, in the event that the fight comes down to a special elective conference, would hold the key to the youth league throne.
But an ANC source said Lamola was a double agent who pretended to support Malema and oppose President Jacob Zuma, whereas in his home province of Mpumalanga he was known to support Zuma for a second term, and the province's premier, David Mabuza, a known Zuma ally, for re-election.
Lamola, however, said he was a national leader and did not play on the provincial political fields.
He laughed off suggestions that he was a double agent.Mabe is seen by most members as the logical replacement for Malema because of his political seniority over Lamola.
Lamola said on Tuesday there was no secret campaign to position himself as Malema's heir apparent.
However, the youth league's constitution dictates that, as deputy, Lamola steps in as acting leader of the league if its president is unable to fulfil the role.
Talks are under way in anti-Malema camps about bringing a vote of no confidence against the youth league leadership.
Lamola denied weekend press reports that he'd had to be restrained from assaulting Mabe when the sanctions were announced.
The reports said Lamola had accused Mabe of being a sell-out for saying they should not appeal the verdicts and they had almost come to blows. But those in Mabe's camp said the allegation was an orchestrated attempt to discredit the treasurer general, a close ally of Malema.
Lamola said: "It's not true (succession war is raging). I don't know where it comes from. Malema... will remain the leader until the next elective conference. All of us are going to appeal. The league is intact and not demoralised. The mood is high, we have no problems." - Political Bureau
* **From: http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/succession-battle-rages-at-ancyl-1.1179256?showComments=true*
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