Youth task team: ANC’s new battleground?

A restructured ANC national youth task team (NYTT) dominated by young blood has been unveiled but the new structure could be used as a factional tool, like its predecessor.

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, who announced the new NYTT members yesterday, said the team had been given a twin task: to mobilise the youth behind the ANC banner and to champion the youth’s interests.

The team is led by Nonceba Mhlauli as convenor and Joy Maimela as coordinator. Magashule said the young members from old NYTT structure had been retained in the new structure, while the older ANC national executive committee (NEC) members had been removed.

He said the majority of the new leadership were women. Although the team had been asked by President Cyril Ramaphosa to assist in unifying the ANC, they could find themselves embroiled in factional battles.

If the team sided with Ramaphosa, they could find be on a collision course with the radical economic transformation (RET) advocates. The RET forces have been pushing for the ANC Women’s League to demand 50-50 representation in the ANC top six.

Presently, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte is the only female at the top. This week, ANCWL president Bathabile Dlamini said the league would fight for a 50-50 presence of women versus men in the ANC national executive committee and the top six.

RET champion Carl Niehaus echoed Dlamini’s call for equitable woman representation at the top.

He tweeted: “Women are the majority of @MYANC membership. Women are also the majority of South Africa voters. Yet, black women are the most exploited and hardest hit by economic exclusion and poverty. The #ANC needs to hear the voice of women loud & clear about #RET!”

A 50-50 top six could pose a challenge for the governing party as it could mean some of the male officials at the top must withdraw in favour of females at the next elective national conference.

But this legitimate demand to elevate women is being weaponised by the RET and the ANCWL for a factional agenda. They are aiming to increase their members at the most influential levels of the party.

Ramaphosa’s appeal to the NYTT to unite the ANC was seen as a bid to pull it to his side. After wresting the NYTT from the grasp of the RET faction, Ramaphosa appeared to be expanding his influence in the party.

As things stand, the NYTT is set to influence matters in Ramaphosa’s favour while the ANCWL is likely to ramp up its bidding for Zuma/Magashule camp.

By Eric Naki