African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) leader Julius Malema was on Monday afternoon still listed as a director of SGL Engineering Projects - despite his claims to the contrary in the morning.

A search of the South African Company database, published by Butterworths, revealed that he was appointed director of the company when it was registered as closed corporation on 12 May 2009.

The database shows Malema as being an "active" director, along with Lesiba Cuthbert Gwangwa. The company is listed as "In Business".

In the morning, Malema told reporters in Johannesburg: "Since my election as president of the ANCYL in 2008, I instructed my lawyers to process my resignations from all these corporations and companies... when I was based in Limpopo province."

Malema came under fire in the past few days from newspapers reporting that he had a lavish lifestyle bankrolled by government contracts to companies he held an interest in.

Weekend reports stated that SGL Engineering Projects had won contracts of over R140-million from local governments in Limpopo, where the company was based.

The South African Company database had Malema on Monday listed as not only being a director SGL but also of three other companies, all of them close corporations.

He was the sole member of 101 Junjus Trading, appointed on January 23, 2007.

The second company he was involved in as director was Blue Nightingale Trading 61. The list showed him as being appointed director January 19, 2006.

Both these companies were still in business.

Malema was also listed as co-director of Ever Roaring Investments with Mathias Mathews Mathabatha, Mmalehu Onicca Kwakwa Nomvula Pamela Mhlari and Treasure Poseletso Kekana.

Malema was appointed director on September 8, 2006, and was still listed as "active".

The database showed him resigning from only one company - Nkgape Mining Investments - as director. This was on April 12, 2006. Butterworths' website describes the South African Company Search database as the entire database of companies and close corporations as supplied by the Company and Intellectual Property Registration Office, a division within the Department of Trade and Industry.

The database is updated monthly. According to the website, it was last updated in February 2010. Malema could not be reached for comment on Monday afternoon.

In the morning he said that his lawyers had confirmed that he was no longer a director of any company.

"They re-assured me that they had removed me."

Asked about this in the afternoon, Malema's lawyer Tumi Mokwena said he had received the instruction from Malema to terminate the directorships.

"This happened somewhere in 2008. He said he did not want to have an interest in any company any longer."

Mokwena said that Malema gave his lawyers special power of attorney to handle the matter.

The fact that Malema was still listed as a director of SGL would be investigated, Mokwena said.

ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu said: "He (Malema) gave the orders to the lawyers, whether the database was updated is not our problem."

He said he took exception to the fact that a journalist who did not attend the morning briefing contacted him about the issue.

"You are out of order. Fuck you," Shivambu said before putting down the phone.