THE ANC Youth League has been left with their tail between their legs after their mother body reined them in for publicly calling for President Jacob Zuma to fire Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
The ANCYL in eThekwini had been calling for the removal of Gordhan, accusing him of failing to transform SAA. The league had alleged that the minister had allowed a few white companies to benefit from the airline, at the exclusion of the majority of black people.
“We believe Gordhan must go, and he must go immediately, because SAA is a typical example of why he should go,” ANCYL eThekwini regional secretary Thinta Cibane told a media briefing in Durban last week.
But this week, Cibane backtracked and issued a statement “unconditionally apologising to comrade Pravin Gordhan”.
The ANCYL eThekwini did not send the statement to the media, but The Star obtained it from Gordhan’s office.
The apology came after the league in the ANC’s biggest region in the country held a corrective engagement with its mother body. It is not clear whether it was the regional executive committee, the province or the national leadership.
“After the engagements with the ANC, we have come to differently appreciate the leadership of the ANC in determining the future of the ministers and all other deployees.
“We accordingly respect the opportunity given to us to be engaged by the ANC on the matter of comrade Pravin Gordhan and, therefore, regret comments made in this regard,” read the statement from Cibane.
The youth league’s attack on Gordhan came after the ANC Women’s League released a statement nationally accusing SAA of benefiting a few white companies, including one from the US.
ANCYL eThekwini regional spokesperson Thulisa Ndlela yesterday confirmed that the league had withdrawn its public utterance against Gordhan.
“We have engaged with the leadership of the ANC, and we have withdrawn the statement. This was a difficult matter of engagement with the ANC,” said Ndlela.