Malema's warning to billionaire

Julius Malema was a VIP guest at billionaire businessman Robert Gumede's wedding to Dr Portia Mkhize, but that did not stop him from warning the groom that his wealth might be distributed to the poor.

When the ANC Youth League president stood up to make a speech at the lavish reception at the Nelspruit Golf Club on Saturday night, some guests could not believe their ears when he sternly warned them that nationalisation of the mines was inevitable.

According to one guest, Malema did not stop there, saying that when nationalisation happened the mines of Patrice Motsepe and the assets of ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa would be targeted.

Motsepe, who owns African Rainbow Minerals, was not present, but Phosa was one of the speakers.

Some of the 2500 high-powered guests saw the funny side when the grinning youth league firebrand warned Gumede, an IT tycoon, that his wealth could be given to the poor when nationalisation became government policy.

Malema took a swipe at another guest, South Africa's high commissioner to the UK, Zola Skweyiya, who is the former social development minister and one of the ANC's most respected leaders.

Malema told guests that Skweyiya was telling investors in London that nationalisation of mines was not government policy and would not happen.

He said Skweyiya's actions were understandable because he lived with investors and was scared of them. He assured Skweyiya that he was wrong about nationalisation.

Some guests questioned why Malema was given a platform, saying his comments were out of tune with the event and had cast Skweyiya in a bad light.

• Sapa reports that the Pan Africanist Congress criticised Malema yesterday for saying, at a commemorative event in Mafikeng on Monday, that the party had ''hijacked'' the Sharpeville protest from the ANC.

''The PAC history has been written in blood and no amount of cheap rhetoric will erase it,'' said PAC spokesman Lehlohonolo Shale.