While the African National Congress (ANC) celebrated its 95th birthday on Saturday, secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe was called in to intervene in a stand-off between the ANC Youth League’s national office and its Eastern Cape branch, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported.
The rift began when the national body disbanded the provincial executive committee last month and set up a task team.
In separate meetings on Saturday, Motlanthe met the role players from the ANC provincial committee, the disbanded committee and the interim task team.
Though the youth league is autonomous, with its own constitution, it has to fit in with the overall policies of the ANC, he said.
”The ANC grants them space to make their own decisions … and as a parent, the ANC is always able to pull them back to the right path if they veer off the road,” Motlanthe said.
The Eastern Cape branch was disbanded amid accusations that it had failed to build branches.
But members say it was because they backed President Thabo Mbeki for a third term as party leader and did not follow the league’s national body in supporting Jacob Zuma.
The ANC Youth League announced late last year that its national conference will take place in March 2008, at which it will elect its new leaders.
President Fikile Mbalula said this is to ensure that the current executive members have an influence on the outcome of the ANC elections, where a new president will be chosen during the ANC national conference in December this year.
”The ANCYL has political interest in the outcome of that election. We want to influence and be influenced by the ANC conference,” he said, adding that it would be ”suicidal” to have divided attention by conducting its own elections ahead of the ANC national conference. — Sapa