The firebrand leader of the youth wing of South Africa's ruling ANC declared "economic war" on whites on Saturday, making clear he had no intention of backing down from inflammatory rhetoric on the eve of a party disciplinary hearing.
Julius Malema, whose calls for the nationalisation of mines have unnerved investors in Africa's biggest economy, said he would not tone down his demands.
"We are declaring economic war," South Africa's SAPA news agency quoted Malema as telling hundreds of supporters in Johannesburg's Alexandra township. "We are going to reclaim what is ours from the white minority."
He was speaking a day before the resumption of an African National Congress disciplinary hearing into accusations he sowed dissent in the ANC and brought it into disrepute.
The proceedings are seen as a showdown between Malema and President Jacob Zuma -- who came to power with the backing of the ANC Youth League.
Malema's calls for the state to take over giant gold and platinum mines and white-owned farms have galvanised poor blacks, many of whom are impatient with a system that has left wealth concentrated in the hands of a white minority that imposed race-based rule until two decades ago. [Reuters]
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