Johannesburg - Former ANC Youth League deputy president Ronald Lamola, who served under Julius Malema during his reign as the league’s president, has broken ranks and defied the party’s instruction not to discuss Malema’s succession race in public.
“The ANCYL is no longer an underground movement and therefore there should be transparency even when we contest. There’s nothing wrong to discuss (sic) contestation as long as comrades are disciplined and not engaging in public spats. I’m going to accept nomination. I’m confident that I will be the next ANCYL president because I have support from all provinces,” Lamola said this week. He was speaking to the Sunday Independent ahead of the league’s first elective conference since Malema was dismissed from the ANC. The conference takes place early next month.
Lamola said his leadership will ensure that the ANCYL is “radical”, “militant” and “disciplined”, in spite of sports minister Fikile Mbalula issuing a directive that members refrain from commenting in the media about the upcoming conference. Mbalula has been co-opted into the ANC NEC task team that is helping the ANCYL prepare for the conference.
As the battle for the league’s presidency hots up, it has emerged that the ANCYL in Limpopo has thrown its weight behind North West MEC for Local Government and Human Settlement Mokone Maine. He is also the youth league’s provincial chairperson in the same province.
Besides Maine, it is understood that Malema’s former protégé in the ANCYL, Pule Mabe, is also considering his options, although he is not a preferred candidate.
Maine said: “Branches of the ANCYL will decide who they want to nominate… If nominated, I will accept the mandate of the ANCYL branches. The NTT has made it very clear that we must not comment until the conference takes place.”
The Sunday Independent