JOHANNESBURG, Sept 21 (Reuters) – An arrest warrant has been
issued for ANC renegade Julius Malema on charges of fraud, money
laundering and corruption, a South African newspaper said on
Friday.
The weekly City Press said on its website Malema, who has
become President Jacob Zuma’s most prominent critic, was
expected to appear in court next week. It did not cite the
source of its information.
South Africa’s police and prosecuting services declined to
comment. Malema’s lawyers and spokesman were unavailable.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Malema dismissed another
report of his imminent arrest as nothing but rumour generated by
leaders of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), from
which he was expelled for indiscipline earlier this year.
However, he has been under investigation by the police’s
elite Hawks detective division for alleged corruption relating
to the award of government contracts in his native Limpopo
province.
The political stakes have also been raised in the last six
weeks, with Malema using the Aug. 16 police shooting of 34
striking miners at Lonmin’s Marikana mine to try to relaunch his
political career and remove Zuma from the leadership at internal
ANC election in December.
In an update to its online article, City Press quoted Malema
as saying: “not heard anything. I think if there is such a
thing, I will be open about it.”
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