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Even the influential new Deputy Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula, himself once an ANCYL president and now would-be challenger for the position of ANC secretary-general currently held by Gwede Mantashe, was told by Malema to wait his turn until Malema had worked his way through the queue of people outside his office.

Malema not without ANC enemies

Malema is not without enemies in the ANC and the ANCYL. There are many who are seeking to topple him, but they have never dared to step forward out of their anonymity. It is also common knowledge in the ANC that Malema digs and keeps on file the dirt on all influential or potentially influential people in the Alliance.

The esteem in which he is held in the ANC is also evident from the fact that a special group of elder advisers was established in the ANC to help guide Malema and raise him politically for a future role. And even Zuma's spokesperson Zizi Kodwa has indicated, according to the Mail & Guardian, that a great future awaits Malema in the ANC.

Malema derives his power from the fact that he brings to the ANC the critical youth constituency which backs him. He also speaks the language of the downtrodden, the marginalised, the impoverished masses and, importantly, of the militant formations in the Alliance.

In this regard, he has picked up where Winnie Madikizela-Mandela left off.

Furthermore, he has powerful connections such as Zuma and Cosatu's Zwelinzima Vavi, and he enjoys the backing of Cosatu and the SACP among others. Therefore, against this contextual perspective, when Malema says the mines will be nationalised, notice should be taken by all concerned.

Mantashe changed his position

When Malema first raised the issue, Zuma, Mantashe and Mining minister Susan Shabangu immediately tried to calm the panic that set in by rejecting any such notion. However, within days Mantashe changed his position and called for a debate on nationalising the mines, a call since taken up by many others in the ANC. And Cosatu and the SACP gave Malema their full backing.

Since then the government decided to undertake an audit of the state's mining interests while discussions around the establishment of a state mining company were renewed and the role of an existing state mining company, the African Exploration Mining Finance Corporation, was re-examined. In addition, any further disposal of state mining interests was suspended.

Last week Malema told the annual conference of the Black Management Forum that the nationalisation of mines in South Africa, as called for in the Freedom Charter, would inevitably happen. Malema seemed to favour the Botswana model where the state, according to him, owns 51 percent of a mine, with private interests holding the other 49 percent.

The bottomline, it would seem, is that where Malema makes smoke, there may well be fire.

Article courtesy of Leadership Magazine.