Cape Town - The Young Communist League’s national secretary Buti Manamela is stepping up into the big league.
As deputy minister in the Presidency, Manamela is becoming a youth advocate, taking the national youth policy 2015-2018 on the road once his departure from the league after his 11 years is done this weekend.
“There’s a big job of finalising the national youth policy… I’ll be all over the country. We’ll be talking to as many young people as possible,” he said on Tuesday on the eve of the league’s national congress at the University of the Western Cape.
The policy is expected to be published in the Government Gazette next week and public consultations and discussions will unfold to meet March’s deadline. “I’m hoping to get in a couple of games on the PlayStation,” laughed Manamela.
On the political front, more time will be spent driving political education in the ANC in Limpopo, where he is on the executive structures, and on work of the central committee of the SACP.
At 35, the cut off for membership of the league, Manamela looks set to comfortably wear his political long trousers.
Credited in some circles, but criticised in others, for his support of SACP boss Blade Nzimande and President Jacob Zuma, he infrequently stepped into political sparring at crucial times.
During an election rally earlier this year, shortly before the public protector’s Nkandla probe, he said Thuli Madonsela was not god and her findings were not the Ten Commandments.
Manamela was the ANC battle axe on the first, pre-election parliamentary Nkandla ad hoc committee, which ultimately decided to leave the matter for the post-May poll to new MPs.
“If we are accused of getting our mandate from Luthuli House, I plead guilty because I am a member of Parliament, voted for on a list of the ANC. I’m not here representing my jacket, I’m not here representing my wife, my kids. I’m not ashamed of my political party,” he said during one of those pre-election heated committee meetings in April.
Manamela has been at the league’s helm since it was re-formed in 2003 with 2 300 members. At this weekend’s congress about 1 000 voting delegates representing the 87 916 members, will take part.
Former league national spokesman Castro Ngobese, now spokesman for metalworkers union Numsa, did not mince his words: “The league lies buried alongside the SACP in Nkandla.
“It lost its political relevance when the national secretary changed the constitution for selfish ends and ambitions to serve in Parliament. Hence working class youth is now leaderless and does not have a fighting organisation.”
The league has rejected claims it is irrelevant.
Instead it maintains it has highlighted quality education and skills training as key to young South Africans, who are disproportionately affected by unemployment, poverty and inequality – and this week will decide on concrete campaigns for a “new deal for black working class young people”.
Political Bureau