Johannesburg - The African National Congress National Youth Task Team (NYTT) has admitted that it was clueless about when it could drag the embattled ANC Youth League (ANCYL) out of liquidation.
On Monday, the NYTT briefed the media on the outcomes of its meeting at the weekend where it adopted a roadmap to the ANCYL congress, which is scheduled for March 2020.
The NYTT was recently appointed by the ANC’s national executive committee, following calls by ANCYL members for the national structure under then-president Collen Maine to be disbanded.
NYTT coordinator Sibongile Besani said the ANC had intervened and paid off millions of rands in debt which the cash-strapped ANCYL had for years owed to service providers. This lead to its liquidation.
"The fact is the ANCYL has been liquidated and liquidation can only be rescinded by making payments. We have already sort of obliged to our liability. The lawyers are handling everything. Once the court process in that regard has been dealt with, we will be able to give you an update," Besani said.
The NYTT refused to reveal the exact amount the ANC had to pay and the identities of the service providers.
“The source of liquidation is debt. And we would like to confine our answer to that. We don’t want to go to its history. We want to move to the future,” Besani said.
This liquidation comes after events management company Z2 Presentations applied for the ANCYL to be liquidated for a R15-million debt it incurred in its 2008 national conference, where its former leader – now EFF president – Julius Malema was elected.
Besani said the NYTT would not be able to take the ANCYL to its conference without the financial backing of the ANC as its accounts were empty and frozen due to the provisional liquidation.
“The ANC will take responsibility in ensuring that the ANCYL convenes its congress. Whether at a political or financial level, even if the youth league does not have money, the ANC has a responsibility as a mother body to take that responsibility,” he said.
The NYTT has been accused of being comprised mostly of old people, mostly males, who did not understand the needs of young people and legitimate members of the league.
Besani said the NYTT had now co-opted young females to make the task team more representative.
The new additions included Gauteng Sports MEC Mbali Hlope, Gauteng Infrastructure MEC Tasneem Motara and Young Women's Desk National Convenor Precious Banda.