Johannesburg - Can the ANC Youth League return to its “kingmaker” status and challenge the ANC leadership on critical policy issues like it has done through its 70 years of existence?
That is one of the questions that will likely be answered by how the league emerges from its national conference, the first since its national executive committee was disbanded in 2013.
The Julius Malema-led league felt the wrath of its mother body after the 2012 Mangaung conference, when its NEC was disbanded and the likes of Malema and Floyd Shivambu expelled from the ANC.
Whoever comes out of the much-awaited conference as the leadership of the league will be fully aware of the extent to which “ill-discipline” can be punished by the ANC.
While the Malema crop was described as disrespectful and ill-disciplined, it is hard to ignore how they pushed the ANC on issues of economic transformation and the country’s absurd land ownership patterns.
Policy proposals like the nationalisation of the mines and the expropriation of land without compensation have always been debated within the party, but the youth league banged on about these issues to an extent that party leaders flew across the world to appease foreign investors that they would never see the light of day.
As the league turned 70 this year, many went into overdrive about the legacy of the league, the role it had played in shaping the ANC’s liberation struggle, and its role moving into the future.
The upcoming conference will be a litmus test of whether the league can regain its zest and historic character as a radical component within the ANC, or whether it will simply cower to the national leadership.
Leaders of political organisations often define the character of those organisations, so it will be important who is chosen to lead the league.
The two proposed names for the president of the youth league perhaps make the question more interesting.
On the one hand, you have NEC member Pule Mabe, whose resistance to Malema earned him a seat on the national executive committee.
On the other hand, you have Magasela Mzobe, who has been the NEC’s henchman in destroying whatever was left of Malema’s league’s structures.
He also sits on the NEC by virtue of this position, and will require the support of the national leadership to entrench himself as an authoritative leader of the league.
He enjoys the support of senior leaders of the ANC and the alliance partners, something he will not want to forgo.
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa, himself a former leader in the youth league, argued this week that what happens to the youth league at national level is not always a reflection of what happens on the ground.
He said the youth league “as we know it is not dead”, saying it was still a militant and radical formation of the party that would continue to make its voice heard.
“The youth league remains very vibrant and radical. The league will continue to produce leaders of the ANC as it has always done.
Although the league has been plagued with problems leading up to the conference, some its regional leaders believe it can return to its former radical and militant character.
Lesego Makhubela, regional secretary of the league in Tshwane, said the league would continue to play a key role, starting with the ANC’s elective conference in 2017.
“Historically, every leadership who wants to lead the organisation needs to ensure that they have the ANC Youth League on their side.
“It might not have been so in Mangaung, but the league is going back to its own character, where it will be able to lobby and mobilise within the organisation and meaningfully influence the party.”
Political analyst Professor Susan Booysen said it was very unlikely the league would speak in a radical voice and strongly criticise the mother body.
According to Booysen, the normally radical voice of the youth league would be curtailed, as members were aware of what happened to the last people to speak “uncomfortable truths” to the mother body.
“They will be very cautious in the space they will occupy, as they are aware there will be payback for strong criticism of the mother body.
“Under Julius Malema, the league claimed its autonomy… However, I’m sure even the ANC will ensure that the league becomes quite a compliant child.”
She added that the current leaders in the running for the presidency were most probably in the running precisely because they had been “pre-approved”.
Sunday Independent