THE suspension of ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema will only come into effect once the mitigation process of his sentence was complete, the ANC confirmed on Monday.

"There should be no confusion. We have decided to delay everything from kicking in until the processes are completed," ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe told reporters in Johannesburg.

"If we wanted to be legalistic, the 2010 suspension would have taken effect, but we will wait two weeks for the mitigation. Delaying the kicking in is part of certain political considerations and not legal considerations."

Mantashe was speaking after the party held its first national executive committee (NEC) meeting for the year.

He declined to comment on the process the ANCYL would follow in finding a new leader once the mitigation had been completed.

"The ANC Youth League are in a better position to clarify that. The ANC Youth League are an organisation with a constitution. They are autonomous, but integral to the ANC, but this decision is for the ANC Youth League to make."

The African National Congress's disciplinary committee of appeals on Saturday announced that the attempts by Malema, his spokesman Floyd Shivambu, and four other ANCYL officials to have their suspensions overturned were dismissed.

They were found guilty in November last year of bringing the ANC into disrepute and of sowing division in the party.

Malema currently has a 14-day reprieve to argue for a lesser sentence.