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The African National Congress is perturbed by the statement made by Comrade Julius Malema yesterday during an ANCYL rally held at Wits. In his speech he accuses the President of being a dictator and that the Youth League has been suppressed and traumatized under his leadership. This distortion has no basis and is devoid of any truth.

These attacks directed at the ANC leadership and the President in particular have been going on for some time and have reached intolerable levels of disrespect. We hold a very dim view of his utterances particularly coming from a person who professes to have blood that is black, green and gold. Instead of attacking the ANC on a public platform, we would have expected him to use existing channels within the organisation to raise his concerns on whatever matter. These attacks have become an almost regular posture from the member of the ANC NEC.

At no stage has the collective leadership of the ANC nor President Zuma made a statement that would suggest intolerance. The role and position of the Youth League have always been reaffirmed by the NEC including the President. We also want to emphasise the point that the ANC members who were charged by the ANC were charged on their capacity as members of the ANC and not as leaders of the ANCYL. While this might come late in the equation, we will still like to advise Comrade Julius to refrain from throwing insults at the leadership and the President.

Once again we urge him to make use of the internal processes within the ANC. At no stage did President Zuma charge Julius Malema or any of the ANC Members for contravening the Constitution of the ANC. Charges have been brought about by the ANC in its entirety, any attempt to isolate President Zuma in this regard, is bound to fail. Comrade President Zuma, as he has always demonstrated is part of the ANC collective.

If this assault and insults on the ANC leadership by Malema continues, he will be unwittingly dragging himself to a precipice where a point of return is impossible in the eyes of ANC members. Comrade Zuma is a leader democratically elected by all members of the African National Congress. We all hold him in high esteem and no amount of attack on his good integrity will change or erase that. We remain totally opposed to any notion that President Zuma is a dictator and that he traumatized any structure of the ANC including the ANCYL.