Malema's rival suffers blow

ANCYL Gauteng chairperson Lebogang Maile suffered a major blow when one of his children was involved in an accident, preventing him from attending an all-important provincial general council.

Details of the accident, which happened on Saturday evening, were still unclear yesterday.

But Maile's spokesperson in his capacity as MEC for sport in Gauteng confirmed that he spent the whole of yesterday in hospital next to his child.

"There are no details at the moment, but I can confirm that one of his children was in an accident. Earlier reports that somebody died are incorrect," Maile's spokesperson, Emmanuel Mdawu, said.

Delegates who attended the Gauteng provincial general council (PGC) in Kibler Park yesterday were wondering about Maile's non-appearance.

Maile was supposed to deliver an address during the PGC in his capacity as chairperson of the province.

ANCYL national general secretary Vuyiswa Tulelo barred the media from attending proceedings.

ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu said it was up to the province to decide whether they allowed the media into the PGC or not.

Media organisations were allowed to cover ANCYL president Julius Malema's addresses in KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Limpopo.

Provinces were holding their PGCs over the weekend to nominate between Malema and Maile.

Indications were that Malema was leading, with most provinces nominating him for a second term.