The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) was pushing ahead with disciplinary proceedings against former Limpopo chairperson Lehlogonolo Masoga.

"They are desperate to eliminate me," Masoga said on Thursday.

Masoga said that he received an sms from the ANCYL prosecutor in the case against him, Alec Moweni, telling him that he would have to appear before the committee on Friday.

The former chairperson abandoned a legal challenge to the charges brought against him by the ANCYL national leadership after the ANC urged him to do so and agreed to intervene in the matter.

"The matter is now supposed to be in the hands of the ANC, whatever we do, we have to go through the ANC," he said.

He felt that the league leadership was side-stepping the mother body by proceeding with the hearing.

"I have forwarded the information to Gwede Mantashe [ANC secretary-general]... I am waiting for the ANC. If the ANC says I should go to the hearing, I will go," he said.

In April, Masoga was ousted as Limpopo chairperson at a chaotic ANCYL conference in Makhado. He was replaced by Frans Moswane, who is aligned to ANCYL president Julius Malema.

Masoga said that the conference was unlawful and claimed that the new leadership was elected after Malema took over proceedings. Masoga then tried to reconvene the conference. He was accused of disobeying an ANCYL national executive committee instruction not to reconvene a second elective conference. Disciplinary charges were brought against him but he felt that the process was flawed.

ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu on Thursday declined to comment on whether Masoga was summoned to appear on Friday, saying that disciplinary matters were internal.

"We do not disclose internal matters in the media."

The battle to lead the ANCYL, expected to unfold at its elective conference in 2011, was currently being fought in the provinces. Malema was reportedly set to face stiff competition from his deputy, Andile Lungisa.

Lungisa had denied harbouring presidential ambitions, saying that he would not do anything that divided the organisation.

The Eastern Cape youth league's failure to hold an elective congress resulted in its executive committee being disbanded by the national leadership.

The happenings in the province were an indication of the factional battles raging in the ANCYL, with delegates pitching up at two different venues to elect provincial leadership. The first attempt at holding an elective meeting was marred by a bomb scare, unruly delegates and registration irregularities.

Last week, the High Court in Grahamstown reinstalled the disbanded provincial executive committee and halted a further attempt to hold an elective conference.

The youth league in the province was split between supporting current provincial secretary Ayanda Matiti, who is aligned to Malema; and Mawande Ndakisa, who backs Lungisa.

Both the Western Cape and the North West provincial executive councils have also been disbanded.

The ANCYL was an organ of the ANC but was autonomous in its functioning. Despite this, Masoga sought the ANC's intervention, saying that the league was in crisis and the ANC had a responsibility to intervene.

Mantashe had earlier welcomed Masoga's abandoning legal action and urged disgruntled league members to refrain from turning to the courts to settle political matters.

He also "prefer[red]" that the ANCYL disagreement in the Eastern Cape be resolved via political channels instead of legal ones.

"It is our belief as the ANC that political disparities resonat well in a political process and a politically motivate solution," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

An ANCYL national general council, meant to be held from July 12 to July 18, was recently postponed to August.