The African National Congress Youth League has challenged comments reportedly made by ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe about the league’s disciplinary processes.
Mantashe reportedly questioned why an ANCYL disciplinary hearing had decided to expel former Limpopo chairperson Lehlogonolo Masoga from the organisation after Masoga had dropped a court interdict against youth league disciplinary action in order to allow the ANC to mediate.
The league secretary general Vuyiswa Tulelo told a press conference on Wednesday that she interprets Mantashe’s comments as favouring court battles over the ANC’s internal disciplinary procedures.
“When the secretary general of the ANC [Mantashe] says: ‘When someone withdraws a court case, you act harshly against him,’ it means he is saying, ‘undermine [internal] processes and go to court’,” Tulelo said.
“It’s a matter we will raise with the ANC at the national working committee (NWC) meeting on Monday next week,” she added.
On July 19, Masoga was found guilty of creating divisions in the ANCYL in connection with a disputed provincial elective conference held in Limpopo in April.
Masoga refused to accept the result of the conference, in which he was replaced by Frans Moswane, and the ANCYL consequently pressed for disciplinary charges against Masoga.
In June, Masoga applied for an interdict to stop the ANCYL from proceeding with disciplinary action against him.
But both Masoga and the ANCYL agreed to an ANC-brokered mediation on July 13, to be led by Mantashe.
As a pre-condition for the mediation, Masoga agreed to withdraw his interdict case while the ANCYL would halt its disciplinary hearing.
Two days later, however, the ANCYL reinstituted disciplinary charges and Masoga failed to secure a second interdict in court.
The latest comments by Tulelo are indicative of tension between Mantashe and the national leadership of the ANCYL, many of whom are in favour of him being removed as secretary general at the party’s next conference in 2012.
Masoga is believed to be part of a minority in the ANCYL that has no problem with Mantashe’s leadership.