ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula used his address at the ANC Youth League conference yesterday to assert his authority and send a warning to those who have effectively accused him of stealing the conference in favour of his preferred candidate.
Mbalula has been accused of meddling in the affairs of the structure, among other things by axing its task team convener Xola Nqola on the eve of the conference. He is said to have ignored all red flags surrounding the conference, including audit reports alleging fraudulent membership.
This, according to youth leaders at the Nasrec conference, was part of a strategy to pave the way for his preferred candidate, Collen Malatji, to take over the league. Malatji is expected to go up against Aphiwe Mkhangelwa for the position of president.
Mbalula, however, dismissed this, saying he did not have a favourite.
Delegates made their feelings clear when Mbalula took to the podium, singing “wenzen' uXola” (what did Xola do?). When the singing finally subsided, Mbalula told the conference the decision to remove Nqola would not be reversed.
“You cannot come here and argue about people who were appointed. You must come here and fight for your leadership,” said Mbalula. “Xola was withdrawn and that decision will not be changed because that decision was taken by the ANC.”
Mbalula warned aggrieved delegates that he was a secretary-general who would not hesitate to act against ill-discipline.
“I see there are others who think that the ANC is still the ANC of the old and they are still on the terrain of being loose and ill-disciplined,” said Mbalula. “And comrades, I want to assure you, continue with your ill-discipline but your time will arrive. We will not hesitate to deal with ill-discipline in the organisation. We will never tolerate anarchy and ill-discipline in the ANC.”
He said he had not meddled in the affairs of the youth league but was nudging it to “ensure that we arrive where we are now”.
We will not hesitate to deal with ill-discipline in the organisation. We will never tolerate anarchy and ill-discipline in the ANC
— Fikile Mbalula
The league, holding a conference for the first time in eight years, believes it is still relevant, despite criticism that the structure has waned in importance both inside and outside the ANC since its Julius Malema era of militancy.
Delivering the political report on the first day of the conference, task team deputy convener Fasiha Hassan said the league had to undertake a renewal process, which included the conference itself, to remain relevant.
“This renewal represents a dynamic step towards the revitalisation of youth politics in South Africa and holds the potential to shape the future of the nation,” she said.
Hassan admitted that the hand of the party's elders had sometimes weighed too heavily on the league, compromising it.
“If the ANCYL is to survive the next phase of its existence, it must assert its autonomy. While we exist within the framework of the ANC and broader [mass democratic movement], our standing as an organisation has been compromised by leaders who are attached at the hip to elders,” she said. “We must break from this habit and determine our own path as young people.”
Hassan said though the league appreciated the non-aligned stance South Africa's government has taken, they firmly believed that the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia was not right.
“We must not be bullied by anyone seeking to advance their agendas through violence and war. We do, however, note that Ukraine has the right to territorial integrity and for its sovereignty to be respected,” said Hassan.
“Comrades must not be naive and romanticise an order that no longer exists. Today’s Russian federation is not the Soviet Union of old. Having said that, Nato's expansion eastward must be treated with the contempt it deserves.”
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