Pretoria - New ANC Youth League (ANCYL) provincial congress preparatory committee members in Limpopo have vowed to rebuild the movement as soon as possible.
The ANCYL National Youth Task Team announced 25-member committees for each of the provinces on Monday. The ANCYL, traditionally the king makers in the governing party’s politics, lost its roar and almost became irrelevant in the country’s politics over the past decade.
The ANCYL effectively died after the expulsion of its then president Julius Malema in 2012 for allegedly sowing divisions and bringing the ANC into disrepute with his disparaging remarks about the Botswana government. Malema has since formed the EFF, which has grown to become the third biggest party in the country.
The role and task of these new committees is to rebuild the branches and structures to take the movement to its 26th national congress.
In Limpopo, the task team resolved to dissolve the provincial structure led by chairperson Vincent Shoba and secretary Che Selane.
Speaking exclusively to the Pretoria News after his appointment yesterday, co-ordinator of the structure, Tonny Rachoene, said in order for the organisation to rebuild to go to the elective congress, it must attract new recruits.
At the same time, he said it needed to get current members “out of the pockets” of ANC members.
Rachoene said: “The mandate is very clear, to rebuild and reposition the youth league and take it to congress as soon as possible.
“We will make sure that we intervene and establish branch task teams in all those branches that have lapsed.
“We must make sure that we go back to basics, mobilise all young people across all spheres and make sure members go out of ANC leaders' pockets so that they focus on serving and uniting young people.”
New convenor of the Limpopo structure, Ngoako Selamolela, echoed his sentiments, saying: “The plan is to ensure that we recruit as many people as possible and champion the interest of the youth wherever they are found; in schools, workplaces, institutions of higher learning.” He vowed to fight corruption within the ANC’s ranks.
“The youth league will engage in a campaign to expose corruption where we find and see it. Our structures will engage in assisting communities to fight crime by building community policing forums and similar structures. There are other issues like health, drug abuse, etc. Issues affecting young people cannot be exhausted.”
Selamolela is a former South African Student Congress national president and deputy secretary. He has also served at a higher level as a parliamentary officer on higher education.
In a statement, national task team convenor Nonceba Mhauli said: “The ANCYL resolved to dissolve all structures of the youth league in July.
“We embarked on a rigorous process of consultations with ANC structures, former ANCYL leaders and other progressive youth in the various provinces to come up with the lists of all the provinces.”
Pretoria News