S Africa's Malema in court Wednesday

South African firebrand Julius Malema will voluntarily appear in court on Wednesday, his lawyer said, paving the way for a high-profile and politically charged trial. Malema's appearance will come a day after four of his associates were charged with corruption in connection to government tenders and Malema is widely expected to face similar accusations. Police issued an arrest warrant for the former ANC Youth League leader Friday, but Malema made an agreement with prosecutors that would see him "appear in the Polokwane Regional Court on Wednesday," his lawyer Nicqui Galaktiou said. The developments come shortly after Malema seized on unrest at South Africa's vital mines to launch political attacks against President Jacob Zuma. On the eve of his appearance in the capital of Limpopo province, about 300 kilometres (200 miles) north of Johannesburg, police beefed up security around the courthouse and announced road closures as thousands of Malema supporters planned to hold an overnight vigil. "Tight control will be enforced by members of the private security company at the court, as well as members of the SAPS (South African Police Service)," police spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi said in a statement. "No lawlessness will be tolerated and those who break the law will be arrested immediately," he said, adding that dangerous weapons like firearms, knives, machetes and sticks were banned. Mulaudzi said police were expecting "throngs and throngs of people". Malema, the former leader of the African National Congress's Youth League who was recently expelled from the ANC, has called for Zuma's removal, just as potential candidates jockey for position ahead of a leadership election in December. The party booted the rabble-rouser in April for ill-discipline and after he was convicted of hate speech in a civil case last year. Further compounding Malema's woes, he is also the subject of a separate tax probe. The country's revenue service told AFP on Tuesday it had been granted an order to recover back taxes Malema allegedly owes. The authority said Malema owed at least "16 million rand ($2 million, 1.5 million euros)," spokeswoman Marika Muller said. Malema's court appearance was not related to tax evasion, she added. A Polokwane court on Tuesday granted bail of 40,000 rands to four of Malema's business associates, including the CEO of On-Point Engineers, a company partly owned by Malema's family trust Ratanang. Elite police spokesman McIntosh Polela confirmed charges of fraud, money-laundering and corruption -- launched last year August -- were in connection with government tenders in Malema's home province Polokwane. A government oversight agency found On-Point Engineers had won an irregular 52-million-rand public construction tender in Limpopo, according to a leaked report. The Youth League, which contests Malema's expulsion, condemned the "use of state resources to settle political scores" against Malema. It also criticised leaks of details relating to investigation. The League has been highly influential in South African politics, acting as a crucible for the careers of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo, among others. Despite his pro-poor stance, Malema's love of luxury has raised eyebrows. He is a lover of designer clothes and fast cars, lives in an upmarket Johannesburg suburb, and owns a Breitling watch worth some 250,000 rand ($32,000, 23,000 euros). Using a flare-up of wildcat mining strikes to attack his enemies within the party, Malema has called for the mines to be made "ungovernable" as a flurry of protests hit the key industry in recent weeks. Violence during a strike at a mine in Marikana left 46 dead, 35 of whom were killed by police.