Totalitarian Talk Shop: NYDA deceit and doubletalk revealed

The Democratic Alliance Youth is disturbed by the array of blatant untruths that National Youth Development Agency Executive Chairperson Andile Lungisa has been telling the media. We are in a position to reveal documentation completely debunking his claims in this morning's Die Burger, and demonstrating that the NYDA has, in fact, requested as much as R50-million in funding from provincial governments, over and above the R30-million they are receiving from the Presidency's budget.

Firstly, Andile Lungisa was quoted this morning as denying that provincial governments were approached to cover any costs for their R370-million totalitarian youth festival in December:

'[Lungisa] het ontken dat die agentskap provinsiale regerings vir geldelike bystand genader het. "Provinsiale jeugagentskappe moet self uitgawes soos vervoer dek - dalk was dit hulle."'

['Lungisa denied that the agency had approached provincial governments for financial assistance. "Provincial youth agencies must cover their own costs, like transport - maybe it was them."']

Try again, Andile.

The DA Youth can this morning reveal documentation showing that Lungisa actually requested these funds personally.

He signed the requisition himself!

And, in fact, the documentation shows that Lungisa personally requested R5.25-million from the Western Cape. If similar letters were sent to other provinces, as we can reasonably expect to be the case, this means a total of approximately R50-million has been requested by the NYDA from provincial governments.

Then, another egregious mistruth! Lungisa says the ANC Youth League has nothing to do with the hosting of this event:

'[Lungisa] het ontken dat die ANC-jeugliga by die reëlings betrokke is. "Hulle is genooi, soos enige ander organisasie."'

['Lungisa denied that the ANC Youth League was involved in organising the conference. "They were invited, just like any other organsiation."']

Sir, do you have no shame?

The same ANC Youth League that is apparently now not involved in this conference was only responsible for ... organising it in the first place!

In February, they publicly announced:

"The African National Congress Youth League delegation left for Lebanon today, the 4th of February 2010 to attend the General Council of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY). The delegation will in the General Council present the ANC Youth League bid for South Africa to host the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students in December 2010."

Then, after the ANC Youth League's bid had been successful, they announced:

"As National General Council, we express the ANC Youth League and South Africa's readiness to host the 17th World Festival for Youth and Students in December this year."

And in October, Julius Malema said:

"It is a great honour and privilege for the Youth of South Africa, in particular the youth of the African National Congress to be hosts of the 17th World Festival for Youth and Students."

So much for the ANC Youth League 'simply being delegates'.

This, after all, is an international youth organisation of which the ANC Youth League is a signed-up, card-carrying member. It is why we have said that state funding of this event is a complete sham - a gross conflation of party and state, and a complete waste of resources that should not be going towards political events, but rather towards programmes that bring about tangible youth development.

We stand by our position that the NYDA should be shut down. On the evidence of Andile Lungisa's comments to Die Burger, this organisation is not only fulfilling absolutely none of its mandated responsibilities, but its leadership is also terminally compromised.

Statement issued by Aimee Franklin, Democratic Alliance Youth Director, November 23 2010

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