South
African ANC renegade Julius Malema was charged with money laundering on
Wednesday in a high-profile corruption court case his supporters say is part of
a political plot to silence the fierce critic of President Jacob Zuma.
Prosecutors at the provincial magistrates' court in Polokwane, 350
km (220 miles) north of Johannesburg, said Malema had "improperly
received" 4.2 million rand in a conspiracy involving government tenders.
But they did not file any other charges, contrary to media reports
that he also faced trial for fraud and corruption.
Scores of police deployed razor wire to block more than 1,000
Malema supporters from entering the police station and court in Polokwane, the
capital of Malema's native Limpopo province.
The trial of Malema, who has backed wildcat miners' strikes and
has been pushing for nationalisation of the mines, is seen as one of the
biggest since apartheid ended and Nelson Mandela's African National Congress
(ANC) took power in 1994.
The 31-year-old, who appeared in a grey suit and white shirt, was
ordered released on bail of 10,000 rand after a 10 minute hearing.
Malema, ousted as leader of the ANC Youth League in April for
ill-discipline, has returned from the political wilderness with a vengeance in
the past several weeks, stepping up public criticism against Zuma and the ANC
hierarchy.
The ANC rebel had been under investigation for months for
suspected corruption, fraud and money laundering relating to government
contracts his political allies secured in Limpopo - a province where the
Treasury says hundreds of millions of dollars go missing each year due to
suspected graft.
His penchant for luxury cars, flashy Swiss watches and champagne
parties has also attracted the attention of South Africa's Revenue Service,
which said at the weekend he owed near $2 million in unpaid taxes.
SUPPORTERS DENOUNCE "ABUSE OF POWER"
Malema has blamed Zuma's government for police shooting dead 34
striking platinum miners on August 16 at Lonmin's Marikana mine in the
deadliest security incident since the end of apartheid.
"This case is an abuse of power by Zuma against Malema,"
supporter Sonett Masemola told Reuters outside the court.
Malema's backers held a raucous vigil on Tuesday night. Many said
he was being brought to trial to sideline him ahead of an ANC leadership vote
in December where Zuma is seeking re-election as head of the dominant party in
South Africa.
"He gets more support than President Zuma because he is more
in touch with the people and more intelligent," said Luterdo Mothurwane,
dressed in ANC Youth League garb.
Zuma's "man of the people" image took a knock during the
government's sluggish response to the Marikana shootings, with Malema emerging
as the head of an "Anyone But Zuma" campaign seeking to remove the
president in December.
Malema used the mine shooting to pillory Zuma, saying the
polygamous president spent more time dealing with his personal life than the
poverty and inequality that blights Africa's biggest economy 18 years after the
end of white-minority rule.
He has also revived calls for the state to take over the mines, a
sector that accounts for about 6 percent of GDP. The government has dismissed
the idea, saying it would bankrupt the country.
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