The Democratic Alliance's youth leader on Monday dismissed his ANC counterpart Julius Malema as "a petty little man" who is too cowardly to take him on in a public debate.

Khume Ramulifho hit back after Malema on Sunday turned down a challenge for a debate, saying he only engaged with serious politicians and not with DA leader "Helen Zille's garden boys".

"In using the perversely racist term 'garden boy' in reference to me, Malema has also once again shown himself to be a petty little man who is unable to engage in meaningful debate, and capable only of resorting to the basest form of gutter politics to make his point," Ramulifho said.'

He added that the controversial African National Congress Youth League leader's remarks showed that he would "do no better than a garden gnome were he to engage in a debate with the DA Youth".

The slanging match between the two youth leaders followed a Sunday Times report that Malema called Zille a "racist, colonialist and imperialist", at an ANC rally held at Cato Manor, Durban on Saturday.

Malema also said Zille's deputy Joe Seremane's "role is to smile at the madam every time".

Ramulifho said Malema used incendiary statements to mask his reluctance and inability to tackle the true problems facing South Africa's youth.

"No amount of insulting rhetoric and pathetic name calling should distract from the fact that Malema is afraid that his vast intellectual shortcomings will be exposed."

Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Mulder also condemned Malema's rhetoric, which he compared to that used by Rwanda's Hutu militia during the genocide in that country in 1994.

"Julius Malema is no true leader. He is only a dangerous rabble rouser and spreader of hate. This is the easiest type of politics. To bad-mouth opponents and call them cockroaches and snakes, anyone can do," he said.

"A million Tutsis were murdered in 1994 in the genocide in Rwanda. That was preceded by hate speech in which Tutsis were described as cockroaches which had to be eradicated."

Sapa