ANC Youth League President Collen Malatji (@ANCYLhq)
ANC Youth League (ANCYL) president Collen Malatji says he would rather support the reinstatement of former secretary-general Ace Magashule’s party membership than that of former party president Jacob Zuma.
In an interview with the Mail & Guardian this week, Malatji also vowed to use the ANCYL to defend President Cyril Ramaphosa against any attempts to remove him.
“It is very wrong to put Zuma and Ace in the same category. If Ace were to close his political party today, come back tomorrow and say, ‘I’m pleading, I made a mistake’, it’s a matter I could participate in and plead for him,” Malatji said.
“But with Zuma, it’s something else. I don’t know how the ANC even elected that man. I don’t think the ANC should welcome him back. He is not the type of person who should be in the ANC.”
Zuma was expelled from the ANC a year ago after being found guilty of collaborating with and endorsing the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, which he leads. Magashule was ejected for violating sections of the ANC constitution, including refusing to step aside as secretary-general despite being criminally charged.
Zuma has repeatedly insisted that he remains a member of the ANC despite his affiliation with MK party, pointing out that several people have dual ANC and South African Communist Party membership.
The former president still commands significant voter support, and some ANC members believe his return could help the party regain its outright majority after its poor performance in the 2024 general elections.
The ANC constitution allows expelled members to appeal their expulsion at the party’s national conference, which will next be held in 2027. Some within the ANC believe Zuma may use the platform to appeal his expulsion, as he still has sympathisers within the organisation.
Malatji questioned the commitment to the ANC of both Zuma and Magashule, who went on to form the African Congress for Transformation.
“They have their own parties. Yes, the ANC constitution allows a national conference to reverse expulsions, but you reverse the expulsion of someone who is still part of the organisation,” Malatji said.
Malatji said the youth league has learned from its past mistakes in backing the removals of Zuma and Thabo Mbeki as presidents before their terms ended — moves he said did not benefit the ANC. Removing Ramaphosa would therefore also not help the party, he added.
During his closing remarks at an national executive committee meeting recently, Ramaphosa said those calling for his removal should confront him directly rather than plotting “in dark corners.” He added that he had no issue resigning if members genuinely felt he should step down.
Malatji said the youth league had made it clear that anyone seeking to remove the party president “must go through the ANCYL first,” as it was the party’s first line of defence.
The G20 leaders; summit at the weekend had demonstrated that Ramaphosa was one of Africa’s strongest leaders, Malatji argued, questioning how the ANC could justify removing the president after he managed to deliver a successful G20 declaration when others had failed at previous forums.
“We differ with the ANC on many things, and we fight with the ANC internally because our constituency is very impatient. But there is no way we can say the president of the country must go. It would plunge the country into a crisis, especially under the government of national unity,” he said.
“The problems we currently face — unemployment and slow economic growth — would be far worse if there was political instability. We are not part of any plan to remove Ramaphosa, and we will defend the president of the ANC with everything we have.”
He added: “The ANC is the president’s organisation. That is why you can remove anybody else and no one will cry. But if you remove the president of the ANC, it is a big issue; it affects the organisation directly.”