18 November 2015
The ANC Youth League in KwaZulu Natal would like to congratulate the African National Congress in KwaZulu Natal for staging a successful Provincial Conference which was held at the Pietermaritzburg Royal Show Grounds between the 6th and the 8th of November 2015. This conference was a major success and was incident free. The ANC Youth League fully participated in the conference and is satisfied that the processes from Registration till the last day of conference were done in an open, transparent and satisfactory manner. We salute the outgone leadership and the ANC staffing complement for an excellent job.
We also wish to congratulate all delegates that attended the 8th Provincial Conference of the African National Congress for emulating the character of the African National Congress. The delegates that attended the conference were well behaved but also very much astute about ANC processes. They emulated the delegates that attended the first Conference of the ANC in 1912 who were charting a way forward for a New South Africa. These delegates understood very well what were the needs of their countrymen about a new South Africa, therefore they laid a solid foundation for a new movement that was to liberate South Africa. Similarly, the delegates that attended the 8th Provincial conference of the ANC also understood that our entire province was looking at us to chart a way forward for Economic Freedom in our lifetime and we are satisfied that the citizenry of our province and our country is proud of the proceedings and the outcomes of the conference which were open, transparent but also free and fair.
On the Resolutions
The ANCYL is satisfied that the resolutions of the watershed conference are indeed biased to the poor people and the Youth of our province. The work done by the Youth League before and after the conference both in terms of resolutions and preferred leadership has indeed payed off. We were able to influence the conference of the ANC to resolve in all the Resolutions taken at the ANCYL Provincial Conference held earlier this year in the lower South Coast. Notable of these Resolutions are the following:
- The creation of Youth Directorates in all Provincial Departments and all Municipalities in our province, also adequately funding these offices to make meaningful impact to the Youth of our Province.
- Fastening the pace of service delivery for the people of KwaZulu Natal by rejuvenating the ANC led government with youth full and innovative ways to send services to our people.
- Reaffirming the NGC, the resolution of Youth representation in the upcoming local government elections at 20% but also agreeing that the Youth League must work the ground to achieve its target of 40% and higher representation.
- Government working with private sector to ensure job creation but also ensuring that the youth are prioritised.
This is just to mention a few of the progressive resolutions that were taken at the watershed conference of the ANC in KwaZulu Natal.
On the dispute of the outcomes of the conference
The ANCYL wishes to put it on record that all members have a right to lodge disputes if they feel aggrieved about any outcome of a conference of the ANC. In this case a relevant appeal or dispute can or should be lodged with the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress. Our stand as the ANCYL is clear that there is no dispute that can justify any nullification of this watershed conference, as all the issues they raise in their memorandum are baseless, groundless and lack reasonable substance, and we are convinced that the process was clear, transparent and fair.
We also condemn very strong the march that was held to protest the outcomes of the ANC conference. We believe that this was an act of bringing the ANC into disrepute and we call upon the leadership of the ANC to charge the leaders of this march. We also call upon the leaders whose names were used to do this act in particular the Premier of the Province comrade Senzo Mchunu to come out in the open and distance himself from this act, if this is not done in 3 days we will take it as if that the march was sanctioned by him and his comrades.
On SACP and YCL utterances
We wish to reaffirm our commitment to the Tripartite alliance and the Progressive youth Alliance and wish to state that we will continue to work for Unity of these alliances. We however must state that we take serious offence on the utterances that were attributed to the various leaders of both the SACP and YCL regarding the Provincial Conference of the ANC and the President of the ANC.
We wish to also remind the SACP that their role is to bring Socialism in our country but not try to be a YL of the ANC. The attack on President is a clear attack on the ANC and therefore we would wish to warn the SACP that the YL of the ANC will stand ready to defend the President and the ANC with all of our might. To claim that its them alone that defended the ANC President during his difficult days is devoid from the truth and reality.
We call upon the SACP and YCL to accept the outcomes of the conference and the will of ANC branches and stop attacking the ANCYL and the President of the ANC.
On the way forward
The ANCYL wish to state that the leadership of the ANC is well intact and is going nowhere. We call upon all members of the ANC to accept the outcomes of the conference and Rally behind the leadership elected. We believe this leadership will indeed take us to economic freedom in our lifetime. Both the leadership of the ANC and the ANCYL are hard at work ensuring that services are sent to our people and also working to ensure that the ANC wins the local government elections with a resounding victory.
Issued by ANCYL KZN Provincial Secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo, 18 November 2015
