GOVERNMENT looks as though it is finally preparing to move  against former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema.

Responding to questions on the Marikana shooting in the National Assembly, President Jacob Zuma said there were “activities that are not acceptable” that were fomenting tension and unrest in the mining industry.

“And I have engaged with the ministers concerned, to discuss how do we deal with this issue. And very, very soon we will be able to let the public know. Because it can no longer be accepted.”

Zuma, in an apparent reference to Malema, who earlier this week called on mine workers to engage in a mass national strike, said it was not just the striking miners who were engaged in such unacceptable activity.

“It is also some people of some description who are going there to instigate miners to operate in a particular way. It can not be accepted. And therefore we are looking into that; we are going to be acting very soon,” he said.

Earlier, asked what he planned to do about “the uncontrollable Polokwane political Frankenstein, Malema, created by yourself”, Zuma laughed, and said he had created no such person.

“I shouldn’t be blamed for somebody who has some characteristic of his own. It’s not my fault. I never participated in the production of such a person,” Zuma said, to jeers from opposition benches.

Yesterday, it was reported that the SA National Defence Force was seeking legal advice on what charges could be brought against Malema.

The day before, Malema addressed 40 of more than 1 000 soldiers suspended after a protest at the Union Buildings in Pretoria in 2009. The SANDF took the unusual, some say bizarre, step of placing all its bases on high alert in anticipation of the meeting.

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said yesterday that today the NEC would discuss current developments, including lawlessness and incidents of incitement.
‘‘We will deal with  all these matters that are in the public domain,’’ he said. – musam@citizen.co.za