Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - November 17, 2009
Addressing the Pan African Youth Union in Kempton Park last night, Malema threatened "a parting of ways" with the ANC's alliance partners if they continued to insist that the former president be charged.
"Mbeki might have made statements ... but you must never be tempted to charge [him] with genocide. That will never happen. If there are those harbouring those interests then you must know that we are going to part ways. You will never touch one of our own," he said.
Malema said Mbeki tried to find solutions to the pandemic and that he should not be blamed.
"He tried to provide solutions to the problem of HIV and Aids. He said what he said in trying to find solutions to the problem," Malema told the stunned audience.
He said if action was taken against the former president then it will open the door to prosecuting other African leaders.
"If we allow that to happen with Mbeki, they will then do the same with Mugabe and Zuma," he said.
However, Manamela stood his ground last night, saying the league would continue to call for Mbeki's arrest.
He said it was "shocking" that Malema was defending the former president at a time when the country was being ravaged by the Aids pandemic.
A recent study by researchers at Harvard University found that about 330,000 South Africans died unnecessarily of Aids-related illnesses between 2000 and 2005.
"We stand by our call that Mbeki should be charged with genocide. Our call is backed by statistics. It is shocking that Malema says we must not act against him because he is an African leader," Manamela said.
"We will not (be) stopped and we believe that our call is correct. It can not be that because he is an African leader and he is black then we must not act against him."
Manamela said Malema's threatened parting of ways with the communists over Mbeki would not deter the league.
"A lot of people have died because they did not believe that there was HIV and Aids. It was driven by a political agenda and lack of political leadership on the part of Mbeki and former health minister (Manto Tshabalala-Msimang). What makes it worse is that people want to facilitate such heinous crimes. People say we need to defend them because they are African leaders, that must not happen."
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