Statement of the African National Congress Youth League National Executive Committee (NEC) on the outcomes of its meeting held on the 4th and 5th May 2012, May 7 2012

The National Executive Committee of the African National Congress Youth League met, in line with its constitutional obligation, at an ordinary sitting held in Johannesburg on the 4th and 5th May 2012. The meeting was convened to reflect on various matters including the state of the organisation and to assess progress on our programme of action adopted at the 24th National Congress in Gallagher Estates. As always, the meeting was characterised by robust debates and critical self-introspection on the functioning of the organisation and the challenges confronting it.

The NEC reflected on our commitment to serve the ANC Youth League and the youth of South Africa in general and to continue unrelentingly with the implementation of the resolutions adopted at the 24th National Congress. Notwithstanding the challenges facing us, the Youth League remains determined and able to see through the mandate bestowed upon us.

We noted with sadness the passing away of Comrades Sicelo Shiceka and Roy Padayachee and we join the nation by lowering our revolutionary banners and paying homage to their selfless sacrifice and commitment to the building of a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and united South Africa.

We also further engaged with issues that are preoccupying the public discourse including amongst other e-tolling and the challenges in the country's security cluster. We also welcome the march held by the South African Students Congress and we join them in calling for Free, Quality and Compulsory Education in line with the resolutions with the resolutions of the ANC National Conference held in Polokwane.

On the e-tolling saga we would like to support the view of COSATU to call for the total scrapping of the e-tolls as these will undoubtedly increase the burden on the poor and the youth in particular. We call upon the ANC, as the legitimate leader of all sectors in society, to also undertake a critical review on why we fail to ensure we build consensus within broader society on these matters, thereby giving space to opportunistic forces to vilify our programmes under the guise that the ANC no longer upholds the values that the movement has embedded and fought for in this country.

This ideological hegemony that the ANC must lead should further find expression in the African continent as a whole as we move to Africa Day on the 25th May 2012. We must therefore call on the United Nations to respect the African Union to mediate in the Sudan and for the two countries to find a lasting solution to the challenges confronting them. As the Youth League we will also advance our programmes within the African continent to strengthen the Progressive African Youth Forum with a view of creating a better Africa and a better world.

The NEC noted the ruling of the National Disciplinary Committee of Appeals (NDCA) on the disciplinary processes brought by the ANC on the President of the Youth League, Cde Julius Malema, the Secretary General, Cde Sindiso Magaqa and the Spokesperson of the Youth League, Cde Floyd Shivambu.The NEC unequivocally resolved to disagree with the ruling of the NDCA. The observations made by the NDCA undermine the autonomy of the ANCYL. This decision is arrived at on the basis of the arguments that the Youth League continues to advance that:

1. The comrades are being persecuted based on resolutions of the 24thNational Congress at which the ANC had deployees present. Neither these deployees nor the ANC, as it is entitled to, have ever sought to engage the Youth League on the correctness or otherwise of its resolutions.

2. The comrades were expelled and suspended as a result of their furtherance of a mandate of Congress when they represented the views of Congress and not their personal opinions

3. The Secretary-General complied with the sanction meted out to him to apologise to Minister Gigaba regarding his remarks, however even after having done so the NDCA continues to seek to banish him by imposing an unjustified and unreasonable sentence

The NEC therefore calls on the leadership of the ANC to decisively intervene and provide a political solution on the unprecedented outcome of the NDCA and demand immediate reinstatement of our leaders. We remain resolute on our support to the President of the ANCY, the Secretary-General and NEC member Cde Floyd Shivambu, we reaffirm they remain our leaders. We will continue to challenge the outcomes internally in the ANC until the National Conference in December.

We have further reaffirmed our earlier decision to convene at the earliest possible opportunity a National General Council of the ANC Youth League to allow our structures to reflect on the challenges confronting the movement and the evident efforts to undermine the hard-won autonomy of the ANCYL. We have no doubt that our cause is fair and we call on all structures of the ANC to work side by side with the Youth League to challenge what is a gravely unfortunate action of using discipline to deal with differences of opinion on a political matter and a blatant attempt to suppress and silence the views of young people.

Having taken the decisions above, the NEC was resolute on the need to close ranks and ensure single minded unity around our programme as we advance it towards economic freedom in our lifetime. The NEC deliberated at length on the need to ensure that while we reaffirm our commitment to adhere to the discipline of the ANC, we also needed to ensure that our own members respect our resolutions and our adopted posture moving forward.

It was the view of the NEC that, now more than ever, the organisation needs to reassert unity in action and the prescripts of collective leadership, a key tenant of which is that decisions of structures are binding and that no member should seek to define themselves outside of those decisions. The NEC therefore strongly condemned ill-discipline and members of the NEC publicly defining themselves outside the collective decisions. Moving forward, the NEC resolved on taking decisive action against such behaviour.

The NEC also engaged itself in a lengthy and difficult engagement at the end of which comrades expressed themselves to say that the NEC had lost confidence in the Treasurer-General of the African National Congress Youth League. As such the NEC resolved release the Treasurer-General, Cde Pule Mabe, from his duties in the NEC with immediate effect for reasons the NEC will present before the National General Council to be convened.

We are committed to ensuring that we restore to the Youth League a common sense of purpose as directed by our twin tasks and greater urgency to the implementation of our generational mission of Economic Freedom in our Lifetime. It is our determination therefore to ensure that within our own ranks revolutionary discipline is upheld as our task remains the dismantling of exploitative patterns of ownership in the South African economy.

We will not be deterred in our relentless drive to liberate South Africa in general and the South African youth in particular from the triple scourge of poverty, unemployment and inequality. We are therefore charging ahead in the offensive to ensure the National Policy Conference adopts progressive resolutions on the Nationalisation of Mines and the Expropriation of Land without compensation as given to us by over 5000 delegates at the largest conference of any ANC structure to date.

The NEC further resolved to strengthen the National Working Committee (NWC) to ensure that the structure is able to fulfil its obligation of running the day to day operations of the Youth League by deploying an additional three (3) comrades to serve on the National Working Committee. This measure serves to ensure that the organisation and its effective functioning is strengthened as we charge ahead. We have the outmost confidence in our collective strength to discharge the responsibilities that have been bestowed upon us as we advance towards Economic Freedom in our Lifetime.

In line with our Lekgotla resolution, the NEC will soon convene a National Policy Discussion Workshop to consolidate our input to the National Policy Conference in June. This workshop will also release guidelines in preparation for the NGC.

The ANCYL remains committed to its historic mission to mobilise young people behind the vision of the ANC and to champion the interests of the youth, the poor and the working class. The ANCYL will ensure the policy outlook in Mangaung ANC National Conference reaffirms the centrality of the Freedom Charter and gives practical expression to the demands of sharing the wealth and land of this country. Political Freedom without Economic Freedom remains meaningless; we remain resolute on our call to nationalise the mines and expropriation of land without compensation.

Statement issued by the ANC Youth League, May 7 2012

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