Johannesburg - An investigation into alleged fraud and
corruption by ANC Youth League president Julius Malema has started, the Hawks
said on Sunday.
"We are looking into the (Ratanang family) trust, and
whatever any avenues our investigation brings us to,"Hawks spokesperson
McIntosh Polela said.
"We will not be taking cues from the media in our
investigation. We have our own ways of finding stuff out."
He said the Hawks made the decision to initiate the
investigation over a week ago.
"There is a lot that we have to go through, so it is
difficult for us to say when the investigation would be completed. We are not
committing to a specific date yet."
He said the unit would take action against Malema based on
the results of the investigation.
This follows the African National Congress' announcement on
Friday of dates for disciplinary hearings for both Malema and party
spokesperson Floyd Shivambu.
Malema recently said the league would send a team to
Botswana to consolidate local opposition parties and help bring about regime
change. It believed the government there was "in full co-operation with
imperialists" and undermining the "African agenda".
The ANC publicly rebuked the league. The league in turn said
it did not believe it was in the wrong or going against ANC policy. It
expressed disappointment at being publicly rebuked before the matter had been
internally discussed.
The hearings would take place on August 30 and 31.