ANC Responds to ‘Revive ANCYL’: “The Youth League Has Been Liquidated”

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule.

Ace Magashule, the secretary-general of the African National Congress, has responded to the ‘Revive ANCYL’ lobby group which has been pushing for the current leadership of the ANC Youth League to deposed, saying that their concerns will be addressed in due course. The group has threatened court action if their demands are not acceded to. 

In response to a legal letter sent to the ANC by the group in early July, demanding the dissolution of the league leadership, Magashule said that the lobby was doubtlessly aware that “the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) has been liquidated by the High Court (South Gauteng). Accordingly, the ANCYL cannot perform any of its legal duties. The ANCYL is in the process of applying for rehabilitation.” 

This is in reference to the fact that the Youth League was liquidated by the High Court in 2018, for failure to meet its legal obligations

Ntuthuko Makhombothi, the spokesperson for Revive ANCYL, said that the organisation was ‘shocked’, by Magashule’s letter, but would be continuing with its pressure efforts. 

“We are continuing with our march on July 26 to the ANC [national executive committee] even though they have given us this response. Saying the youth league was liquidated suggests that it must have happened last year, but now if that’s the case, how has the ANC been allowing ANCYL national leaders, even in some provinces to go and sit in decision making bodies of the ANC? So that means ANC is allowing illegality to prevail. 

“These are the questions that we have, because if they say youth league is liquidated it means that all structures of the youth league throughout the country should not be operating.

“We want the ANC to respond to these questions so that we can understand,” he said.

Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said in an interview with The Daily Vox that this development is an indication of chaos that’s about to unfold.

“According to my understanding ANCYL is a branch of the ANC and is decided upon by the mother body, but the kind of communication existing between the two is problematic because I fail to understand why they should resort to communicating through lawyers? What is it that they fail to do internally?

“One way or another, ANC NEC has to deal with this because there is a lack of clarity on what is going on with the existence of the youth league. In my view, the ANC should first establish the status of the ANCYL, to find out whether it exists or not,” he said.

Featured image by Jarius Mmutle (GCIS)