Malema’s home town cleans up after clashes

Residents of Seshego Zone 1 in Polokwane on Thursday morning began to clean up after the streets became a battleground between supporters of embattled ANCYL leader Julius Malema and his detractors following Luthuli House's announcement of his expulsion from the ANC.

Bullet shells, broken bottles and rocks lay on the tarmac following a stand-off which finished around 3am on Thursday morning when 17 police cars and an Inyala contained the situation.

Earlier on Wednesday night, coming under heavy rock pelting and seemingly random gunshots in the dark, several police officers were seen retreating into the cornfields. A few squad cars’ windows were smashed.

Friction began at shortly after 11pm when an anti-Malema group celebrated his demise by lighting fireworks and carrying a cardboard tombstone reading “RIP Julius Malema”, signifying the end of his political career. Just before midnight they approached Malema’s grandmother’s house and began pelting his supporters with stones.

Malema’s camp responded with warning shots, and the two sides - roughly equal in numbers - continued to exchange blows back and forth till the early hours of the morning.

Malema was seen in the frontline himself, carrying a long metal pole and surrounded by a heavily armed entourage of men.

The ANCYL in Limpopo will hold a media briefing in Polokwane at noon, provincial secretary Jacob Lebogo said in a statement.

He and provincial chairman Frans Moswane would outline the Limpopo ANCYL’s response to "the media-driven disciplinary processes" of the ANC national disciplinary committee.. - The Star, Sapa

• Video: Violence erupts after Malema verdict