African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president-elect has warned that ”there is no room for careerists and opportunists who merely seek to advance their own interests and disregard the collective” in the lead-up to the league congress next week.
Fikile Mbalula is standing unopposed for the position of president of the league at its national congress, to be held in Johannesburg from Wednesday.
The league also has to replace lost leadership. In assessing its own performance over the past 10 years, the league notes in a congress discussion document that it lost many of its leaders either because they were no longer youth or had taken up positions in government.
After the last election two of its top five leaders, president Malusi Gigaba and treasurer Nikiwe Num, assumed the positions of deputy minister of home affairs and provincial government minister respectively. Mbalula is to replace Gigaba, who was president for three terms.
Under Gigaba, the league was distinguished for its uncritical defence of the African National Congress. Although it is an entity autonomous from the mother body, the league says it is bound by the political directive of the ANC.
”Autonomy does not mean the ANCYL can develop its own ideological stance different from that of the ANC, but it can initiate debate within the movement on any matter, and can disagree with the ANC on certain matters, within the discipline of the ANC,” it reflected in the discussion document.
Although the youth league is regarded with some scepticism by its critics, the ANC still sees it as an important reservoir of young talent and a training ground for new leaders. The league is given two seats on the ANC national executive committee, which can co-opt addition members from the ranks of the youth organisation if it has to.
Besides Gigaba and Num being promoted into the government after the last election, former youth league members Thabang Makwetla and Dipuo Peters became the premiers of Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape respectively.
Mbalula, from the Free State, is a popular choice because he is seen as the link between the old guard of the league and the new generation of students active in the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) and the South African Students’ Congress (Sasco). While a league spokesperson says other nominations can be made from the plenary it appears that Mbalula’s election is a fait accompli.
For the rest of the senior positions there will be competition. The deputy presidency is set to be contested by current deputy Reuben Mohlaloga and former Sasco leader Tshilidzi Ratshitanga. Ratshitanga is said to be an overwhelming favourite.
The post of secretary general will be contested by Sihle Zikalala and Sabelo Nkuhlu.
Despite the Young Communist League’s (YCL) earlier threats to contest senior positions in the ANCYL, officially none of the candidates for the top five positions has been nominated by the YCL.
The congress will consider some constitutional amendments relating to whether the president and treasurer’s positions should be full-time posts. The presidency was made a full-time position after the last congress, three years ago, because the organisation felt it needed somebody completely committed to looking after its affairs. Gigaba was recalled from Parliament, where he was a sitting MP.