/ 7 April 2008

Motlanthe criticises ANCYL congress chaos

Kgalema Motlanthe, deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC), on Sunday criticised the ”state of disorder” that characterised the ANC Youth League’s (ANCYL) national conference in Bloemfontein.

Motlanthe, in offering ”constructive criticism” to the new leadership, said the league needs to address urgently its organisational and structural weaknesses. ”It could not be correct that the youth league pronounces and acts in a manner that creates the perception that it was not quite amenable to the organisational discipline of the ANC,” he said.

A Sunday Times report said that rowdy elements had exchanged blows and disrupted ANC president Jacob Zuma’s keynote address at the event on Thursday by shouting out the names of their preferred candidates for the league’s presidency.

Julius Malema, Limpopo provincial secretary, and national executive committee member Saki Mofokeng, from the Free State, were nominated for league president.

On Thursday, when the conference started, the two factions arrived at the hall singing songs in support of their candidates and waving placards condemning each other’s candidates, the Sunday Times reported.

Outgoing ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula said that ”forces” had tried to disrupt the congress but that they had failed. ”We are aware of disruptive elements, which is unfortunate.”

He apologised to South Africa for actions displayed by these ”disruptive elements” at the conference since Thursday last week. ”We want to apologise to the ANC, our mother body, for the things we should have kept and did not.”

Mbalula said the election of the new ANCYL leadership would be decided by ”democratic processes” and no other way.

Delegates at the conference started to vote for the top five positions for the ANCYL at 7pm on Sunday evening, much later than scheduled.

Arrangements had already been made for the extension of the congress to Monday afternoon. It was supposed to end on Sunday afternoon.

The congress came to a standstill on Saturday afternoon because the process of verifying the credentials of all delegates was not finished. Most delegates were relaxing in the shade of trees and carports while they waited for the proceedings to continue.

Mbalula urged the ANCYL to throw its weight behind its newly elected leadership. He said despite criticism of the behaviour of its members, the league would remain a ”militant organ” of the ANC.

Motlanthe also asked the youth, especially students, not to destroy infrastructure at tertiary and university institutions while ”grappling with the challenges” that are confronting them — referring to the burning and destruction of property.

”Students at tertiary and university institutions have at times not shown the level of understanding that was required in dealing with the challenges that they face,” Motlanthe said, adding that infrastructure should be preserved for future use otherwise the next generation would not be able to ”draw on the relevant messages of those elements”.

The conference was held at the Callie Human Centre at the Bloemfontein campus of the University of the Free State.