* Defiant, he slams President Zuma as “illiterate”
* Rejects charge he “improperly received” 4.2 million rand
* Vows to keep up pressure on mining companies
* Case comes amid ANC leadership election battle
(Recasts throughout with Malema comments)
By Jon Herskovitz
POLOKWANE, South Africa, Sept 26 (Reuters) – ANC outcast
Julius Malema was charged with money laundering on Wednesday but
emerged from court unbowed to attack South African President
Jacob Zuma as the “illiterate” leader of a “banana republic”.
Expelled from the African National Congress for
ill-discipline, Malema has capitalised on wildcat miners’
strikes to emerge as a champion for impoverished blacks whose
lives have changed little since apartheid ended in 1994.
At a ten-minute hearing in Polokwane, capital of Malema’s
native Limpopo province, prosecutors accused the former ANC
youth leader of “improperly” receiving 4.2 million rand
($514,000) in a conspiracy involving state tenders.
Having ditched his trademark Che Guevara-style black beret
and t-shirt for a grey suit and red tie, Malema emerged to play
the crowd with an irreverent roasting of Zuma, who faces an
internal ANC leadership election in December.
Continued…
