* Malema appeals to ANC to stay as party member
* Will not take the ruling party to court over expulsion
* ANC’s Youth League meeting on Monday to discuss strategy
JOHANNESBURG, March 4 (Reuters) – Julius Malema has
asked to stay on as a member of the ruling African National
Congress despite being expelled from the party earlier this
week, a South African newspaper reported on Sunday.
Speaking at a gathering of the ANC’s women’s wing on his
31st birthday on Saturday, Malema said he would not challenge
the ANC in court over his expulsion for bringing the party into
disrepute, even though he believed he had done nothing wrong.
Instead, he has asked the ANC’s disciplinary council to
allow him keep his party membership even if stripped of the
presidency of its Youth League.
“If we made a mistake, discipline us. Don’t throw us in the
dustbin,” the South Africa’s Sunday Times quoted him as saying.
Expelled from the party on Wednesday, Malema was given 14
days to appeal the ruling. An appeal would have allowed him to
stay in his position as party leader of the youth wing until the
appeals process was exhausted.
The ANC handed him a five-year suspension in November after
finding him guilty of violating ANC rules by causing rifts in
the group and undermining its credibility with calls for the
overthrow of the democratic government of neighbouring Botswana.
Continued…
