Johannesburg - ANC Youth League secretary-general Njabulo Nzuza has lambasted league structures for using social media to put pressure on the ANCYL national executive to release a date for an elective conference.
“This thing is not decided over Facebook posts. We are going to call a conference because we have no intention of overstaying our welcome,” Nzuza said.
Nzuza’s comments follow desperate pleas for a congress date to elect new leadership before the 2019 elections campaign begins.
The term of office of the current crop of leaders expires in September, but a national executive committee (NEC) decision was taken to bring the conference forward to June.
The leadership contest is a three-horse race between Ndumiso Mokako, KZN youth league secretary-general Thanduxolo Sabelo and current treasurer-general Reggie Nkabinde.
“We are already in the processes of preparing for the congress,” Nzuza said.
ANCYL spokesperson Mlondi Mkhize said regional congresses had sat over the weekend, with some having completed audits, while at other branches, general meetings were continuing.
Mokako, who is also an NEC member, has hit out at some structures for "excessive gatekeeping and sidelining of those who held different views".
Mokako also criticised the organisation’s leadership, accusing it of abandoning youth issues.
“The league is no longer a platform for dealing with youth issues; young people in the ANC have been reduced to defending certain leaders or pronouncing them for leadership positions, but hardly speak about the injustices young people are subjected to on a daily basis,” said Mokako.
In response, Mkhize said any NEC member must equally speak about what he has done towards contributing for, or against, what he is speaking out against.