The African National Congress Youth League (ANC) warned ANC leaders on Monday not to defy the league’s policy positions.
“Anybody who has taken a posture and has defined himself as against the ANC Youth League … such an individual runs the risk of losing the support of the youth league,” its president, Julius Malema, said in Johannesburg.
This should not be seen as blackmail, he said after a meeting of the league’s national executive committee over the weekend.
“This time around, we are not going to vote for those who are against [former president Thabo] Mbeki. This time around there is no Mbeki. The criteria now is, are we sharing the same perspectives?
“It’s not about personalities, it’s about principles … We mean business.”
The league has traditionally helped ANC members get into positions of power within the party.
“We will demonstrate our power in 2010 … we will start this year in the NGC [national general council], the singing and the dancing is going to tell you what is going to happen in 2012.”
The ANCYL would try to drum up support, among ANC structures and the alliance, for its stance on nationalising mines in the run-up to the ANC’s national general council in September, and its national conference in 2012. It is proposing the establishment of a state mining company to control the country’s mineral resources.
The league would hold talks with the sector to garner support and invite input on its proposal. Malema said it had already discussed the proposal with Anglo Platinum’s chief executive — who agreed to look at the document.
The ANCYL wants the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act amended to compel mining companies to partner with the state to get mining licences.
“[The Act] should be amended to say the corporations applying for mining in South Africa should be in partnership with the state-owned mining company, wherein the state owns not less than 60% of the shares and right of determination,” Malema said.
The amendment should apply to new mining licences and to those seeking to renew them. The league wanted the government to place a moratorium on issuing licences until the Act was amended.
It hoped to see the change, which should be a “democratic process involving all stakeholders”, happen immediately after the ANC’s September NGC.
Nationalisation, according to the league, should involve “expropriation with or without compensation”. It should be accompanied by a “thorough transformation” of state-owned enterprises.
Nationalisation was a means to “safeguard sovereignty”, transform the country’s unequal spatial development patterns, increase state revenue and create sustainable jobs.
Malema said the league also supported nationalising banks, but “not now”.
Investors should not be “afraid of democratic debate”. If any were scared off by the proposals, others would replace them, he said.
The league would urge its members to enlist in the South African National Defence Force, with plans for the league’s leadership to soon join the SANDF’s reservist programme.
He said politics and military training went “hand in hand”.
“… we must not produce people who overthrow us … we must produce people who are loyal to the ruling party,” he said.
“As revolutionary activists, we have a responsibility to appreciate the significance of national security and must always be on guard to defend the hard-won freedom and democracy and fight crime in communities.” — Sapa