Durban - If elected as new secretary-general of the ANC Youth League this weekend, Njabulo Nzuza said he would continue with policies drafted during Julius Malema’s tenure, but would instil discipline in the league.
The youth league in the province announced its candidates for the top five positions last weekend, and Nzuza was the only one from the province on the list.
The province nominated North West MEC for Local Government and Human Settlement Collen Maine as the league president, Mpumalanga league chairman Desmond Moela as the deputy president, Thandi Moraka from Limpopo as deputy secretary, and Gauteng businessman Reggie Nkabinde as treasurer-general.
The three-day conference, at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, will start on Friday.
Nzuza is hoping to replace Sindiso Magaqa, who was sidelined together with Malema after being found guilty of causing divisions in the mother body. The league was suspended and temporarily replaced by a national task team.
The 32-year-old Musa Dladla Region (KwaDukuza) secretary said the policies, which included economic freedom and nationalisation of mineral resources, should not be interfered with.
“We all know that our struggle is a struggle for economic freedom in our lifetime. But there is a difference between being militant and anarchism,” he said. As the new secretary, he would push for quality education, job creation and youth entrepreneurship. His approach in implementing policies would differ from his predecessors, who left to form the EFF.
“There is a difference between a person who says we must all share the country’s wealth and a person who says, ‘I am gonna take forcefully what belongs to a white man and give it to a black person.’
“We are saying we are fostering equality. We are not saying we must foster equality by running the streets, taking away from people and beating up people,” he said.
Nzuza will compete with former SA Student Congress president Mawethu Rune from Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape for the secretary-general position.
Youth league provincial spokesman Mkhuseli Sondzaba said the province’s list enjoyed support from Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, the Northern Cape and the Free State.
“A large part of Gauteng supports it, while the Eastern Cape is divided. I don’t know what is happening in the Western Cape.
“This is the winning list since KZN alone is sending 800 delegates, the largest in the country. The second biggest province would have 400 delegates,” he said.
Sondzaba said the province nominated Nzuza because of his experience and performance in Musa Dladla region.
“He is disciplined and a humble leader,” said Sondzaba.
The Mercury