THE Young Communist League has warned ANC Youth League president Julius Malema not be counted among those who have fallen trying to attack South Africa's communist leadership.

THE Young Communist League has warned ANC Youth League president Julius Malema not be counted among those who have fallen trying to attack South Africa's communist leadership.

Malema was quoted in a weekend newspaper as saying that there is a group in the tripartite alliance "who present themselves as working-class leaders, while there is very little to show that in everything they do. They spend most of their time drinking red wine. We will never be intimidated by such people.

"When people enter a debate they should resist labelling others as African chauvinists or racists. Once you do that, the youth league will never respect you," Malema said.

This after SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande said his party supported its members in the cabinet and, reject the "opportunistic attempt to play the ethnic card".

Now Malema's comments have angered the young lions.

At a press briefing held at Cosatu House in Johannesburg yesterday, YCL national secretary Buti Manamela, labelled Malema's comments as a "misguided kindergarten tantrum" and urged him to "resist being counted among those who are on the list of having attacked the SACP and its general secretarie, such as Jabu Moleketi and Josiah Jele in their Briefing Notes, Thabo Mbeki and many others".

But Malema denied referring to Nzimande and said the YCL have not confronted him personally.

"There is nowhere where I said Nzimande is a fake."

When asked who he was referring to he declined to name anyone claiming that would be "degenerating".

"But I will not be intimidated by anyone, young or old. There are those who claim to be the sole representatives of the working class who say things only to advance their favour.

"We should expose these people by denying them positions. These opportunistic people are found everywhere," Malema said.