Police probe trust fund run by ANC youth leader Malema

South African police said they are investigating a trust fund at the centre of corruption allegations run by influential politician Julius Malema, who heads the Youth League of the ruling African National Congress.

Mr Malema has denied any wrongdoing and says the fund is a charity that supports different causes.

"We are obtaining the crucial information we would need. It is about allegations of corruption around the trust fund," McIntosh Polela, spokesman for an elite police unit known as the Hawks, said yesterday.

Mr Malema's racially-charged appeals to the poor black majority have raised concerns among investors about whether the ANC will take up his calls for an overhaul of Africa's largest economy.

As ANC Youth League leader, Mr Malema has no direct policy making power. But the league has long been a training ground for the leadership, and he is an influential powerbroker.

Mr Malema, 30, said: "From where I am sitting I am comfortable and I don't need a bribe."