Johannesburg - The ANC Youth League is digging in its heels on electing a new leadership, saying it already has leaders in place.
The league says it has more pressing priorities such as rebuilding and strengthening the youth structure, which has been without an elected president and leadership since Julius Malema’s expulsion and the suspension of its secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa and spokesman Floyd Shivambu.
Ronald Lamola has been the acting president since then. The league’s constitution compels it to hold a national general council if its president has been removed, but this is still to happen.
Thabo Kupa, a national executive committee member, said on Monday the youth league’s leadership was still engaging with the ANC.
“(We are meeting) with regard to strengthening the league. The meetings include dealing with the weaknesses identified by the ANC,” he said.
On the filling of the vacant posts, Kupa said this was the least of their problems.
“The focus is now on strengthening the youth league and the upcoming (national and provincial) elections. So the focus is not on vacancies. We have leadership already.”
Meanwhile, the national working committee (NWC) of the youth league visited KwaZulu-Natal last week as part of the league’s programme to assess the state of organisation and readiness ahead of branch, regional and provincial congresses.
The NWC has also visited Limpopo, Free State, the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga.
The Star