Julius Malema, the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League president, when campaigning for the 2009 elections, insisted that the government should fund the National Youth Commission (NYC), which later became the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), to the tune of R1-billion annually.
The Umsobomvu Youth Fund and the NYC were amalgamated in June that year to align the groups and put youth development and funding for youth activities under one umbrella.
Although the NYDA is not a political organisation, it was clear from the start that even in its new format it would be a place where many young ANC leaders would find work as commissioners or staff members, and would get funding to start up businesses.
But Pravin Gordhan, the finance minister, knew well that overseeing a R1-billion budget is big business and one the NYDA might not be up to. He granted it R400-million in his budget in February, which drew the wrath of the youth league — which makes naming and shaming a weekly game. In a fiery press statement the league said Gordhan acted “as if he is the only person who understands the country’s financial problems”.
Budget time is coming around again soon and early indications are that Gordhan will be even more tight-fisted than before, given the emphasis on austerity in the government’s new growth path. This will make it even harder for the NYDA to get its billion next year.
But with less than half of the budget that it demanded, the agency has still not kept its part of the deal. Its propensity for controversy, like the current furore over the World Festival of Youth and Students, keeps it in the news. And its trouble with proper bookkeeping is what will make it difficult for Gordhan to concede to its overblown demands.
No proof of over R2-billion expenditure
Terence Nombembe, the auditor general, delivered a scathing review of the NYDA when its financial statements were released last month, raising concerns about how its money has been spent.
The agency failed to show documents to prove it spent R2,2-million received from sponsors and it also did not have documentary evidence of R2,2-million that allegedly went on administrative expenses.
In fact, Nombembe found discrepancies in the numbers in the various financial statements, while lease documentation was nowhere to be found. The auditor general found irregular expenses amounting to R845 000 in the past financial year — expenditure which related, in part, to travel and car rentals.
The only expenditure classified as fruitless by the auditor general was a DStv subscription for R3 000.
Staying connected is clearly a priority for the agency. It spent R100 000 on cellphones and another R363 000 on cellphone allowances in the financial year ending March 2010. The cellphone allowances were for the five commissioners and four directors, while other cellphone costs were reportedly used during NYDA activities by staff and volunteers.
When it was still the Umsobomvu Youth Fund it extended a loan of R6-million in 2008 to one of its directors to start a restaurant, but loan repayments have not yet begun.
Salaries
The fund gave R82-million in loans for businesses started by young people, but no royalties, which serve as the agency’s return on investment, were received from these investments in the past financial year.
The leaders of the NYDA earn anything from R670 000 to R1,8-million, which is the salary of its chief executive, Steven Ngubeni, who is also the deputy secretary general of the ANC Youth League. He earns the same amount as Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. Andile Lungisa, the chairman, takes home R769 000.
But perhaps even more worrying than their generous salaries is how the NYDA follows the same route as its predecessors by stacking the boards with ANC Youth League leaders who were either left out of pocket by the internal leadership battles or simply need extra pocket money.
Thabo Kupa, the Tshwane youth league leader, lost out in the recent Gauteng league elections and was out of a full-time job, but Lungisa made room for him on the Gauteng board of the NYDA.
Other youth league leaders, such as Limpopo’s Frans Moswane and his Eastern Cape counterpart, Ayanda Matiti, North West chairperson Keobakile Babuile and Mpumalanga treasurer Lerato Theko were all chosen in their respective provinces to serve on NYDA provincial boards, where they are expected to meet a few times a year. They each now draw annual board member fees of R142 000 per person — which takes a whopping R9-million out of the annual budget.
The politically aligned appointments were so blatant that President Jacob Zuma weighed in on the debate in October, insisting that Lungisa explain to him why he made the appointments.
Meanwhile, the Young Communist League (YCL) felt it was being sidelined in provincial board appointments because very few of its nominees were eventually chosen. A YCL statement on the matter shortly after the appointments in October made it clear that it believed this was a case of “cadre deployment”.
“The approach of the ANCYL towards the deployment of cadres into the NYDA provincial advisory boards has been unprincipled and uncharacteristic of an alliance partner,” the statement read. “The Progressive Youth Alliance has not been consulted in the province and the Young Communist League cadres have been ignored and sidelined in the drawing up of the final provincial deployment list.”
Contentious World Youth Festival
A handful of appointments outside the youth league and their allies, including one Democratic Alliance member, Aimée Franklin, made it on to the “deployment list” in the Western Cape as deputy chairperson of the provincial board. But she withdrew this week due to the NYDA’s handling of the controversial World Youth Festival. The Freedom Front Plus also got one representative, Francois Slabber, who serves as a non-executive director at national level.
But now the national government is expected to fork out R29-million for the World Festival for Youth and Students which will cost the NYDA an estimated R372-million to host — and the provinces were asked to make up the shortfall.
The youngsters should not expect too much sympathy — or cash — when budget season arrives and they again approach Gordhan with their begging bowl.
A R370-million binge
The ANC had to step in to save the World Festival for Youth and Students, to be held in December in Pretoria — an international youth event where, among other items on the agenda, Julius Malema, ANC Youth League president, plans to call for the South African government to give more support to Zanu-PF in Zimbabwe.
The festival was experiencing “serious problems” when Collins Chabane, the minister in the presidency, appealed for help at a national executive committee meeting of the ANC on November 13, according to a report leaked to the Mail & Guardian.
“There are, however, serious problems regarding the availability of resources to host this festival, and there are a few hiccups too. The amount budgeted by the government falls short of the needs of the festival,” the report says.
It is unclear what “hiccups” Chabane was referring to.
The NYDA approached the provinces for additional funding to make up the shortfall. But it was the presidency, where the NYDA is situated, that made R29-million.
The festival is supposed to attract 30 000 youths from all over the world, 5 000 of whom will come from South Africa.
The long-running international conference, which is hosted every five years in cities around the world, was first held in Prague in 1947 and young ANC leaders, like convicted police commissioner Jackie Selebi, attended it during the apartheid years. Organised by the World Federation of Democratic Youth, it draws delegates from 153 countries, among them North and South Korea.
But the total cost of the nine-day event in South Africa is estimated to be R370-million.
Andile Lungisa, NYDA chairperson, recently wrote to provincial premiers requesting them to help carry the costs, while the rest would come from the NYDA budget and businesses.
The Western Cape government has released of a letter addressed to Helen Zille, the Western Cape premier, which appeals to the Western Cape provincial government to “assist us with a sponsorship of R5 250 000 towards the event. This amount will be applied towards the costs for the participation of 1500 youth from all regions of the Western Cape”.
Zille refused to sponsor the delegates because, according to Western Cape officials, there was no money available in the budget.
Lungisa admits that other premiers have “also been slow” to agree to sponsorships. By Wednesday it was unclear if any of the provinces will comply with the request.
The festival programme includes presentations from and about each continent.
Malema vowed at a meeting of the festival’s planning committee, which was held in Tshwane in October, that the league would use the festival as a platform to call for a “more progressive international perspective and foreign policy from the South African government”.
In a speech at the meeting Malema said South Africa’s position on Zimbabwe should be revised and a policy that sought to strengthen the national liberation movement in Zimbabwe be adopted.