Botswana Government Urged to Charge Malema and ANC Youth League with Sedition MyZA

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The Freedom Front Plus believes that there are sufficient legal grounds for the Botswana government to investigate and charge Julius Malema and the ANC Youth League for the crime of sedition following comments recently made by the organisation according to which they want to set up a Botswana Command Team to force the Botswana government out of office.

“There should be sufficient grounds to arrest Malema and any other member of the ANC Youth League’s executive as soon as they enter Botswana. Due to the destabilising effect on the economic relation between Botswana and South Africa, the FF Plus has written to the office of the Prosecutor General of Botswana for their consideration of the matter,” Adv. Anton Alberts, FF Plus Parliamentary spokesperson on Economic Affairs said. “Alternative charges of crimen injuria and the undermining of section 73 of the Botswana Penal code could also be brought against them.”

Should the FF Plus with this action only succeed with Malema and the ANC Youth League leadership not being allowed to put foot in Botswana, this action will already have been successful.

Comments such as these by Malema against the Botswana government are bad for trade between South Africa and Botswana and it is therefore a good thing that the ANC has for once repudiated the ANC Youth League in public.

The ANC Youth League has however according to Beeld of 3 August 2011 in an arrogant manner rejected the rebuke. “This shows that the ANC Youth League intends to continue with their plans to overthrow the government of Botswana. In terms of section 50 of the Botswana Penal Code, sedition is defined as acts which are aimed at incite hatred, disrespect and unhappiness with a specific section of the population against the President of Botswana or Botswana’s legal administration. It therefore appears that Malema and the Youth League’s comments that a regime change is necessary, that the current Botswana government is merely a puppet government of the USA and a foot stool of imperialism, as well as their intention to influence opposition politics in that country in order to bring about a regime change, could possibly qualify as sedition,” Alberts added.

The FF Plus is also of the opinion that it is very late in the day for the ANC to reprimand Malema and the ANC Youth league about their comments. The core of the problem lies in that the ANC’s constitution does not have sufficient jurisdiction over the ANC Youth league as the Youth League is recognised as a separate organisation which does not fall under the direct control of the ANC. That is why the ANC will have to amend their constitution if they want to sufficiently control the ANC Youth League in future in order to prevent damage to South Africa’s economic image.

The FF Plus views the sudden reprimand of Malema and the Youth League by the ANC as indicative of their double standards. “The ANC is prepared to, together with the Youth League and Malema, defend the singing of a song which incites people to murder Afrikaners (farmers), but now suddenly wants to intervene now that a SADC country is in the firing line. The fact that Malema and the ANC Youth League were not “officially” reprimanded shows that the ANC, or elements within it, is still protecting Malema and the Youth League. That is why the FF Plus is continuing with its campaign to stop Malema,” Alberts said.

Adv. Anton Alberts: FF Plus MP