The ANC youth league is a very costly problem child for its mother body.
The ANC had to bail out the party for an R8.2-million debt, mostly for businesses that were never paid for events and accommodation during former ANCYL leader Julius Malema’s time at the helm.
That wasn’t all though: the league owed a further R4.8-million to Gallagher Estate. But that debt had to be deferred, much like Thabo Mbeki’s dream. The party could not afford to pay all the league’s debts at once, so an agreement was entered into with Gallagher Estate to pay off an outstanding debt of R4.8-million, for the last conference, in monthly installments over a 12 month period.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow for the party given that it wasn’t their debt, but thanks to the actions of those now ousted and opposing them in Parliament.
So you think the party would be more careful with its current crop of young ones.
Instead the league’s recent conference was an abject failure. Elections were cancelled at the last minute and the conference declared merely “consultative”. Even that didn’t work and the entire thing was eventually called off amid fears it could degenerate into violence.
But that hasn’t stopped the cash-strapped ANC from hemorrhaging money for its problem kids. It spent R18-million for the youth league conference, according to the party’s latest financial report, which was leaked to the Mail & Guardian.
The biggest expense to the ANC for the conference was accommodation, with a cost of R6-million for the 2 500 delegates, we reported. The cost of transporting delegates from different provinces to the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto campus was R3.5-million. Just over R2-million was spent on bags, T-shirts and caps.
R18-million is, one would agree, a wackload of money for a conference that never was – particularly for an organisation that is so broke it may be forced to lay off staff.
What else could the ANC have done with the money? According to our sneak peek at the party’s financials, quite a lot.
Pacify its debtors
Many companies have started refusing to do business with the ANC unless they pay upfront, after the party has earned a reputation as a late payer. More than six months after the May 7 elections, the ANC still owes R31-million to various companies hired for its extravagant pre-election campaign, with 16 creditors waiting for their money.
Subsidise its loss in electoral funding
The ANC may put a brave face on its decline at the polls by nearly 4% drop but it has hit the party where it hurts. The ANC was out of pocket by R20-million in electoral funding thanks to losing 16 parliamentary seats in the May general elections. That loss has largely contributed to late wages for ANC staffers and an inability to pay increases or bonuses.
Finish paying off those five million t-shirts
President Jacob Zuma wasn’t kidding about painting the streets yellow. The party bought five million t-shirts ahead of the May elections, the biggest purchase for a local election in history. Assuming an ANC shirt bearing his grinning visage could cover half a meter, the party could have covered 2 500km if they laid out its massive t-shirt purchase side by side. That’s the equivalent of a yellow-paved road from Parliament in Cape Town to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, with more than enough T-shirts to spare for a quick detour to Nkandla. But some of the poor sods who helped with the printing are still waiting for R4.5-million in outstanding fees for the yellow delights. Given that the ANC in effect paid more than R118-million for them, exceeding its initial budget of R24-million, this would be a good place to redirect its youth league spend.
Fund its epic parties
The ANC’s manifesto launch ahead of the elections at the Mbombela stadium was quite the success, packed to capacity with ardent supporters. The party bit featured actors and entertainers like Oskido and Phuzekhemis while motorbikes painted in ANC colours performed for the audience. But parties don’t come cheap: the single event cost the party R17-million – almost exactly what is budgeted for the ANCYL’s failed conference.
Pay for a tiny portion of Nkandla’s future cost
We always knew Nkandla wasn’t just going to cost us the over R240-million in public money initially spent on “securing” Zuma’s private residence. The ongoing maintenance of state infrastructure at Nkandla has been questioned several times, but never officially quantified. Already the Sunday Times reported last week that parts of the R6.2-million outer perimeter fence was falling apart. By this week it had been rapidly fixed. How was that paid for? I’m not sure but clearly Zuma needs a maintenance fund more than he needs a dysfunctional youth league right now.
Which kinda goes for the entire structure really. What function does the league serve these days, with a youth-driven radical party like the EFF on the scene? Besides driving up costs for its beleaguered mother body, it’s not clear.