* Appeal appears to have been final option
* Malema popular among young party members
JOHANNESBURG, April 24 (Reuters) – South Africa’s ruling
African National Congress (ANC) rejected an appeal from
political rebel Julius Malema on Tuesday, cementing his
expulsion from the party and President Jacob Zuma’s re-election
prospects for 2014.
Malema, a vocal Zuma opponent and leader of the party’s
powerful youth wing, appears to have exhausted all his options
after months of appeals since a disciplinary charge last year.
The ANC’s disciplinary committee said in a statement it had
dismissed Malema’s appeal, confirming its earlier decision to
expel him from the party.
Malema, one of the best orators in the ANC, has won wide
popularity among poor South African youth with his calls for
nationalisation of mines and seizure of white-owned land.
He was suspended from the ANC last year for sowing division
in the party, but was allowed to stay in his post pending the
outcome of his appeals.
Following the charges, Malema ratcheted up his criticism of
Zuma and even mocked him at public rallies. The ANC retaliated
by turning its original sentence of a five-year suspension into
expulsion.
Although not an elected official, Malema was seen as
something of a king-maker within the party given his large
support base among young people, as well as the youth league’s
reputation as a training ground for future leaders.
(Reporting by David Dolan; Editing by Michael Roddy)
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