THE ANC Youth League yesterday warned ANC leaders not to defy it's policy positions.

THE ANC Youth League yesterday warned ANC leaders not to defy it's policy positions.

"Anybody who has assumed a posture and has defined himself as against the ANC Youth League ... such an individual runs the risk of losing the support of the youth league," its president, Julius Malema, said in Johannesburg.

This should not be seen as blackmail, he said after a meeting of the youth league's national executive committee at the weekend.

"This time around we are not going to vote for those who are against (former president Thabo) Mbeki. This time around there is no Mbeki. The criteria now is (whether) we share the same perspectives."

"It's not about personalities, it's about principles ... We mean business," he said.

In the run-up to the ANC's policy and elective conferences in 2012, the youth league will be trying to get the backing of the party's alliance partners for the nationalisation of mines and the establishment of a state mining company to control the country's mineral resources.

The league wants the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act amended to compel mining corporations to partner with the state to get mining licences.

Malema said the youth league would also urge its members to enlist in the South African National Defence Force. - Sapa