African National Congress apologises for racial slur against Indians

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has apologised on behalf of its Youth League leader Julius Malema for using a racial slur against ethnic Indians whom he called coolies.

However South Africa Minority Rights Equality Movement Secretary AK Singh said they would pursue charges against the leader at various forums.

He said they would table documents on Monday at the South African Human Rights Commission, the Public Protector, the Equality Court and the ANC.

This follows Malema's use of the word 'makula', an indigenous language derivative of the word coolie, considered to be a highly derogatory racist term against Indians in South Africa in the apartheid era.

The word is outlawed by the Constitution alongside other similar terms for different racial groups.

Malema angered the local Indian community when he addressed a public gathering at an informal settlement adjacent to the mainly-Indian township of Lenasia, south of here, yesterday, telling them that their children should be allowed to attend school together with 'makula' children.

The ANC Youth League has apologised for the racial slur by Malema, indicating that he meant no offence when he used the term.

"The ANC Youth League understands and appreciates that some members of society could have received the message differently, yet the emphasis was to integrate human settlement and co-existence of Indian and African communities," the League said.

"The ANC Youth League will therefore not use the word 'makula' to refer to South Africans of Indian origin because we appreciate and acknowledge that it is not an appropriate word."