The Congress of South African Students (Cosas) feels that African National Congress (ANC) Youth League president Julius Malema is giving the youth movement a bad name and will not back him for a second term, Cosas president Bongani Mani said on Thursday.
“We are not supporting Julius Malema for a second term because the character of the Youth League is under threat under his leadership,” Mani said.
They would rather support the league’s Gauteng chairperson Lebogang Maile, who is also the province’s provincial minister for sport, culture, arts and recreation.
He said youth issues such as education were being ignored.
“They are fighting among themselves and coming to meetings heavily armed, so we don’t have confidence in him,” said Mani.
“He is the one that insults the leadership of the ANC and insults the alliance component. The Youth League is the Youth League of the ANC and [if he has a problem] he must go straight to the ANC.”
Mani says the whole of Cosas felt this way.
“It’s an official position. We report all these problems to the Youth League … but there is no action that has been taken.”
‘No issue has not been raised’
The league is preparing for its 24th national congress to be held in June and nomination for new leadership began in February.
A statement in February warned that “no member of the ANC Youth League will be allowed to disrupt any of the branch general meetings that will happen and no member will be allowed next to the venue of the meetings under the influence of alcohol or any other intoxicating substance”.
Offenders would face automatic expulsion from the league.
League spokesperson Floyd Shivambu responded to Mani’s statement by saying that Cosas was being used as a lobbying platform for an individual who did not have support within the league.
“Someone is using Cosas to lobby for themselves. Cosas is being used by certain individuals,” he said.
So far league support had come out in favour of Malema in seven out of nine provinces with decisions from Gauteng and Western Cape outstanding.
He said that there was “no issue that has not been raised” regarding education matters.
They had been fundraising for students to go to school, ran a campaign with free sanitary towels and campaigned against alcohol abuse.
“It is because of narrow factional battles that they are unable to see what we are doing.” — Sapa