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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's ruling party says they may discipline the party's youth league leader for several episodes of race-tinged speech.

African National Congress Deputy General Secretary Thandi Modise said Tuesday the party's disciplinary committee is investigating Youth League leader Julius Malema. Modise did not say what the charges are and says the deliberations are private. Malema recently defied party orders by speaking about the killing of a prominent white supremacist. In a separate incident, he verbally abused a white journalist.

The party's actions echo President Jacob Zuma's criticism of Malema earlier this month for contradicting ANC policy on Zimbabwe and performing a song from the anti-apartheid movement that could be deemed hate speech.