South Africa: Malema sets stage for 2012 takeover bid

Julius Malema’s recent attack on ANC policies at the opening of the ANC Youth League’s 24th national congress struck at the very core of the ruling party, setting the stage for a bruising battle in the run-up to the 2012 conference over the future direction of the party, writes Jabulani Sikhakhane in the Sunday Independent. 'Borrowing from Hugo Chavez and other populists, Malema built his narrative this week on three pillars: he tapped into and stoked the anger and feelings of social despair among the black majority; framed poverty as a function of conflict between the powerful elite (white people in this case) and the majority (poor, landless black people who own very little of the economy); and then presented the youth league, if not himself, as capable of radically transforming the lives of the poor.'