POLOKWANE – The enemy is within the African National Youth League (ANCYL), the newly elected Provincial Executive Council (PEC) told journalists at a press conference, the first since the provincial congress under the theme ‘The youth leading the path towards radical economic transformation’ held on 19 and 20 August.
Newly elected Chairperson, Vincent Shoba, said the congress was preceded by sporadic and unorganised attempts to destabilise the organisation and its functioning, informed by members of the youth league’s lack of political education (understanding) and ideological weaknesses in the entire province.
Shoba claims some members of the league perpetuate divisions in the ANCYL with the intention to use the organisation for their own “narrow and selfish” interest.
Shoba said they have consistently and extensively analysed and concluded state institutions in the province are being used to weaken the ANCYL within the province and it was up to the leadership of the ANCYL to “make it fall”. Shoba said the league has proved to be strong and demonstrated their ability to fight patronage whenever it rears its ugly head and survived.
The organisation boldly reaffirmed its support for the introduction of free quality education and said it should be implemented at institutions of higher education in 2018. The initiative to launch the BRICS bank in South Africa will, according to the youth league, enable South Africa to grow economically and will rescue the country from economic threats it is facing.
They did not, however, elaborate on how the establishment of the bank will enable this. Shoba called on all departments to implement the promise of empowering the youth and women through cooperatives and said the Departments of Education, Health and Social Development are to begin with such implementation by empowering young people through cooperatives with feeding schemes and groceries. He added the Department of Health should come up with a concrete plan on the roll-out of free sanitary pads in schools.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) was in the spotlight because of their lack of providing leadership to workers continuing to lose jobs “because mines are closing because they refuse to give workers better salaries”. Shoba accused Cosatu of failing to represent workers when mining bosses and other government sectors continue to exploit workers.
The ANCYL PEC said some government departments’ performance is mediocre and called on the premier to ensure clean and good governance in Limpopo. The issue of safety in schools and institutions of higher learning must also be addressed and tightened, and SAPS must conduct random searches on a regular basis at schools. The continuing violence at Vuwani is ascribed to weak leadership of government in the province.
The allegations levelled against the Deputy State President are hoped not to be true, or otherwise it would mean the youth in the country are in trouble by people who have money (blessers), according to Shoba.
Shoba reiterated their request to the National Executive Council of the youth league to act against Thembi Siweya, a liability to the ANCYL, as “her despotic behaviour undermine the ANCYL in Limpopo” and it distances itself from her divisive, useless and un-organisational conduct. “She must be attended to”.
The forthcoming Mopani conference, scheduled to take place over the past weekend, was also targeted, as was “other members’ plans to hire thugs to disrupt the congress”. Tolly Mashamaite of the Waterberg region was called upon to return organisational files back to where it belongs, so the region could hold its congress.
The PEC reiterated their call on all ANCYL members to nominate Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as President of the ANC in the upcoming party conference in December.
Shoba lambasted the ANC PEC chair, the Premier Stanley Mathabatha, for supporting Cyril Ramaphosa as incoming President, as the ANC PEC has not yet decided and the discussions only opened the day before. “The ANC has not taken position yet,” he said. “It was ill-disciplined of the chair to pronounce on Ramaphosa.”
