Should Lembede Investments, the ANC Youth League’s investment arm, be dissolved? Should it be restructured? What do ordinary members think? The Mail & Guardian asks around.
Millicent Mkhonto (26)
North West
Entrepreneur
Involved in ANC youth structures for 16 years
Mkhonto is a ‘woman with ambition”. Proudly wearing her Che Guevara cap, she speaks of her dream to travel to Cuba to study politics; if that fails, she will go to Lusaka. ‘I am a number-one supporter of the ANC and I would love to go and thoroughly study the history of this party,” she says.
Mkhonto is a self-employed entrepreneur in her home town of Klerksdorp. Having been part of the ANC since she was a little girl of 10 through the Young Pioneers, she says she knows much about the ANC Youth League — except Lembede.
‘I know that there is something called Lembede, but I don’t know what it does and what it is for,” she says, shrugging and holding up her hands.
She wants to see herself in the ANCYL national executive committee so that she can help develop the business side of the league. ‘The youth league, like any other organisation, runs out of money, so we need to have a strong financial affairs body. I am not sure how we can make money, but I know that we need to make it,” she says.
Mkhonto supports no individuals in the league, but rather the organisation itself. ‘I don’t want us to talk about comrade Julius or anyone else. I want us to talk about the organisation and its way forward. The thing about me is that I don’t like getting personal. I like things that are done in a mature manner.”
She feels that communication within the league needs serious ‘working on”, and that there are people who occupy positions for wealth. ‘Sometimes people don’t want to leave the seats that they have taken up and that makes the rest of us sceptical as to what exactly it is they are getting out of those seats … but then, it is up to the members to ask about such things. I ask — a lot,” she says.
Zibele Xuba (28)
Eastern Cape
Teacher
Joined the ANCYL in 1994
Xuba teaches geography at Zwelihle Senior Secondary. He loves the subject so much that he is doing a master’s degree in urban and regional planning.
From the tender age of 10, he involved himself in politics. ‘I joined the ANCYL in 1994 and I think I was taken by the Nineties mood of Mandela being released from jail and South Africa being free,” he says.
Xuba has more commitments than most people his age. ‘I don’t only chair the Ngcobo region of the Eastern Cape, but I am also in the advocacy for youth commission in the Ngcobo municipality where I assist in meeting the demands of the youth in that region,” he says.
According to Xuba the principle behind Lembede is good, but the practice is not as great. ‘The way I understand Lembede is that it was meant to work for the organisation, not benefit certain individuals, and right now it has not reached the masses, which is why comrade Julius suggested that we revisit Lembede.
‘It would be nice if the league made its own money, stopped relying on donations and generated its own money, but if it’s hijacked by individuals, then it must go,” he says.
Xuba’s expectations of the conference are simple. ‘Stop putting things on paper and start acting. We are tired of adopting resolutions at conferences and then five years later we come back and talk about our failures of the previous conference. We should move from theory to practical.”
Another issue that he feels the conference should address is policy on international relations. ‘Just because we are young people, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care about what happens in other countries. Whether we like it or not, it affect us,” he says.
Vuyiswa (24)
North West
Student
Joined the ANCYL in 2002
Vuyiswa is not only wary of speaking to the media because ‘they exaggerate”, but also won’t provide her surname or have her photo taken because her parents think she is away on a college trip.
‘You can’t take a photo of me because I have a sister who lives in Johannesburg and no one back home knows I am home,” she says.
A petite woman from Potchefstroom, she joined the youth league after she finished matric. ‘I was just sitting at home with nothing to do, so I thought I would join the youth league and it is the best thing I have ever done for myself because I have learned so much,” she says.
Vuyiswa is studying at Boston Business College to be a financial secretary, and she says she has found it hard to juggle her many interests. ‘I love partying … when I registered this year, I had to give up one thing between the league and partying. I gave up partying.”
She feels that the league’s failures have been communication and reaching out to young people both within and outside the ANC. ‘There is little access to information, and I think that is the one thing we need to work on,” she says, adding that she believes the league needs funds.
‘I don’t think the league has money because if it did, we wouldn’t be asking for funding. I am not sure about national level, but I know that there is not much money on regional levels.”
Arthur Sibanyoni (30)
Ekurhuleni
Department of social development volunteer
Joined the ANCYL in 1994
A passionate comrade, Sibanyoni believes finance is one of the most important issues that should be discussed by the ANCYL. ‘A main issue still facing us youth is unemployment. I believe there are various ways the organisation can help create more employment and make more money to sustain the organisation.”
Sibanyoni believes the league should not demolish Lembede, but rather reform it to benefit all members instead of a select few in high positions. ‘I think Lembede should be reshaped in such a way that it reaches all communities and all members of the youth league. As members we might have interesting ideas for projects that can benefit our communities and the organisation financially; this would help the organisation cut back on spending for such things as conferences. People would be able to organise and pay for their own travel and accommodation.”
He says it is important for the youth league to find innovative ways to make money in order to sustain itself. ‘We cannot successfully run an organisation without money; we cannot rely only on donors to sustain us. We should all work towards finding different ways of bringing in money to sustain the organisation.”
Vusi Mbetshelwa (30)
Gauteng
Community development works volunteer
Joined the ANCYL in 1994
Since his early high school days, Mbetshelwa has been involved in youth development in his community. He says the ANC should be more involved with the youth and provide a platform where the youth league can use entertainment to raise awareness of issues affecting the youth such as HIV/Aids and substance abuse, while also raising money for itself.
‘The organisation should hold youth events where they invite various speakers and entertainers. This would attract sponsors and donors, and make money for the organisation.”
Mbetshelwa sees Lembede as a starting point for bringing money into the league. However, he believes that Lembede should shift its focus to include provincial and regional bodies, and not focus only on the national body. ‘I do not believe we should disband Lembede. It is a good start for us to make money for the organisation; however, hogging the proceeds among a selective few with power will not help the organisation.”
Xoli Mdluli (21)
Gauteng
Joined the ANCYL in 2003
Currently unemployed and living in Kwa Thema, Mdluli wishes to continue her studies. She says she is concerned that the ANC Youth League might not have much money. ‘At the conference in Mangaung the organisation spent large amounts of money for seven days where we did nothing. I suspect we have very little money left for the organisation since that conference.”
Mdluli says the league needs to start finding its own ways to make money rather than relying on the mother body to sustain it. ‘I think we should challenge the mother body, not wait to be spoon-fed by them.”
Though she does not fully understand the running of Lembede, she feels strongly that it should focus more on benefiting poor members of the league rather than increasing the wealth of those in power. She says that the league should learn from the ANC and ‘engage with overseas countries” to secure long-term relationships with international funders.
Zama Nkqayi (35)
Gauteng
Administrative assistant
Joined the ANCYL in 2002
Nkqayi feels that Lembede should not be closed down, but rather be made accessible to everyone in the league. ‘There are children who pass matric and do not even go to school. Lembede should be there to help those kids, and those of us who want to go into business should also benefit from the investment, not [just] the few.”
Vumile Nungumza (33)
Eastern Cape
Unemployed
Joined the ANCYL in 2003
Nungumza had never heard of Lembede, but after the M&G explained its role (and the views of the league’s leaders), he says it seems that Lembede should be closed down as it is of limited use.
‘I really support Julius Malema’s statement that Lembede should be closed down, as it not benefiting everyone.
‘It is clear only a few individuals are benefiting from it. We need to come up with a plan which is going to fund the league, not the investment that we have at the moment.”
Godfrey Motsekwa (27)
North West
Youth worker at the Youth Advisory Centre
Joined the ANCYL in 2001
Motsekwa is sitting on the stairs, enjoying the winter sun and reading a copy of the M&G‘s daily conference newspaper, when we ask him about Lembede. Saying that he saw a story about it in his copy of the M&G, he insists on first reading the article before answering our question.
He says Lembede should not be closed; rather, it should create opportunities for young people throughout the country.
‘It should not be closed, but what should happen is that its funds should be allocated to youth development programmes at branch and regional level. Youth development has failed to take place because of the lack of funds. Sometimes branches want to do seminars and campaigns on issues such as HIV/Aids, unemployment and drug abuse.
‘Instead of closing [Lembede] down, let’s rather invest in those issues. This should empower young people of our country.”
Thandeka Mncube (26)
Gauteng
Police officer
Joined the ANCYL in 2003
Mncube is sitting with four of her friends on a lawn between the conference centre’s buildings. None of them knows what Lembede is.
Upon hearing about Lembede and its operations, she says: ‘The investment [arm] should not be closed down, but we must make sure that we all benefit, not only a few individuals. We still need to develop our young people by giving them skills and I believe this can help in that.”
Papi Moladuti (25)
North West
Unemployed
Joined the ANCYL in 2005
Moladuti simply has the following to say about Lembede: ‘I believe this [funding] should be made broad so that unemployed youth like me can benefit from it. It should benefit everyone, not only those in top positions. We should all benefit irrespective of where you come from or the position that you have, but everyone [should] be empowered.”