The ANC Youth League busied itself with reaction to weekend reports over its ailing financial arm Lembede on Monday, with no word on its leader Julius Malema's expected disciplinary hearing.

Reaction to the reports, concerning the financial affairs of Lembede, which the league pledged to shut down last year, focused on branding various journalists liars and shenaniganists and threatening the career of the wife of a City Press reporter.

Malema announced last August that Lembede would be shut down amid reports that millions of rands were unaccounted for.

City Press reported on Sunday that a resolution taken in February of that year - that certain directors get up to 30% cuts on deals Lembede enters into - was not rescinded.

The report continued that they were getting tenders from government departments, a municipality and state-owned enterprises.

The ANCYL responded on Monday that reporter Dumisani Lubisi had stolen and misread minutes and documents from his wife.

The league said that it had "courteously" appointed her to the Lembede board and that Lembede was not in any business dealings. A report on the unbundling of Lembede was still awaited.

"Dumisani Lubisi does not realise that stealing confidential information from his wife will compromise her future career and professional engagements, because those who would want to work with her will be reminded of a lousy journalist husband who steals information and presents it as valid information and investigative journalism to lousy newspapers," the ANCYL said in a statement.

One of the people mentioned in the article, Ali Boshielo, was also not on the league's national executive committee, as reported, the ANCYL said.

It also accused award-winning City Press journalist Moffet Mofokeng of being a "liar" over an article he wrote about appointees to the National Planning Commission.

The league called City Press "counter-revolutionaries" with "very low levels of ethics and professionalism".

In another statement, the ANCYL distanced Malema from reports that he was campaigning for candidates for the ANC and ANC Youth League provincial congresses.

The league would not do this, as its members had a right to choose who they wanted to support.

At a press conference last week, the ANCYL Gauteng said that it would support Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane as provincial chair over Paul Mashatile.

Earlier on Monday, ANC spokesperson Brian Sokutu said that the Malema disciplinary issue was an internal matter and would not be discussed.

However, he said: "The chairperson of [the] disciplinary committee Derek Hanekom has already gone on record, in terms of having given the date."

This was reported as May 3.

The ANCYL previously said that it knew nothing about the disciplinary hearing.

The Equality Court in Johannesburg was expected to hear a hate speech complaint against Malema, lodged by Afriforum Youth, for singing "shoot the boer", on Monday, but this has been rescheduled to May 20 owing to the availability of lawyers.

The High Court in Pretoria earlier granted an interdict preventing Malema from singing the lyrics, pending the start of the Equality Court hearing.

In the past few months Malema has had a BBC reporter ejected from a press conference, calling him a "bastard" and a "blood agent"; has expressed support for Zimbabwe's Zanu-FP while President Jacob Zuma attempts to finalise a political settlement between them and Movement for Democratic Change formations; and has complained about being publicly rebuked by Zuma.