ON THE OCCASION OF 70TH ANNIVERSARY ANC YOUTH LEAGUE, THE ANC NEED A STRONGER AND VIBRANT ANC YL THAN EVER IN THE HISTORY OF OUR STRUGGLE
In moments like this, we pay homage to all successive generations that played a role in the political evolution of the ANC Youth League. The 70th Anniversary of this glorious youth formation cannot pass unnoticeable especially for the role this movement have played within the ANC itself and in the country.
The selfless dedication devoted by the first generation which formed the ANCYL shall remain an indelible mark in the annals of the revolutionary struggle for the majority of people of South Africa. This is a generation of gallant fighters who dedicated their lives for the struggle against injustice and were prepared to pay the ultimate price in order to bring about triumph of humanity. This is the generation of the giants such as Antony Lembethe, O.R Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela, Mxolisi Majombozi, AP Mda and others who could not be deterred by any possibility of incarceration and death - for them death was no different from the injustice meted against the masses of our people. This is a generation which heightened the struggle from methods of deputations and petitions to mass struggle which involved the people and begun to instil, in earnest, the understanding that South Africans should be their own liberators.
This generation did not only theorise the introduction of new methods of the struggle but was always at the forefront of implementation. The adoption of the 1949 Programme of Action by the ANC which led to the rolling mass action, including the Defiance Campaign, can be credited to no other generation but the generation of O.R Tambo. At the centre of the formation of uMkhonto Wesizwe was this generation largely epitomized by Nelson Mandela who became the first Commander-in-Chief of uMkhonto Wesizwe.
With all their noble cause, leaders of this generation were banished to imprisonment with the majority of them having to endure severe and prolonged suffering in Robben Island. One of its illustrious leaders, Cde O.R Tambo, had to preside of the people's struggle under difficult conditions in exile after the banning of the ANC in 1960.
We must, however, also point out that it was not only this generation which had immense contribution to the struggle.The first detachment of MK which led the Wankie & Isipolilo campaign was led by, among others, youth leaguers including its last President before the banning of the ANC, Cde Patrick Bulawa. The 1976 students uprising produced another dedicated generation of young people which eventually left the country and later become the core and loyal servants of the movement and the pillar of the armed struggle led by the MK.
The 1980s also saw the generation led by South African Youth Congress which declared that "life or death victory is certain". This is the generation which was led by Cde Peter Mokaba, Rapu Molekane, Ephariam Nkwe and many other departed and living legends of the youth movement.
Throughout its history, the ANCYL has become an embodiment of key values that have shaped the South African struggle, which include the following:
Service and sacrifice: all generations that led the ANCYL have always been dedicated to the service of the struggle without expecting any benefit. This also came with preparedness to sacrifice - these generations were prepared to suffer any kind of difficulty in order to liberate the people.
Radicalism: the ANCYL successive generations have never been apologetic of expressing their views openly but within the discipline of the organisation.
Unity: the ANCYL has always emphasised the unity of the ANC and that of the people of South Africa and has always avoided degenerating into sectarian interests.
National struggle has been a key feature: the ANCYL has been emphatic on the understanding that ours is a National Struggle and rises above ethnic &tribal interests. Even when the ANCYL embraced the African Nationalism, it did not mean exclusion of other racial groups but general liberation of all people of South Africa particularly the Africans who were a subject of an un-paralleled subjugation by White Minority.
Solidarity and support to each other: that no comrade will suffer while others can provide needed support. This resonates with its ideological orientation that the revolution is not bound by boundaries hence the ANCYL has led solidarity struggles with other revolutions and people fighting for liberation in their countries.
The evolution of the youth struggle is not just monumental chapter for adulation but should serve as an educational tool for building consciousness of serving the people and the fountain of inspiration.
When handing over the leadership baton of ANCYL, Cde Peter Mokaba said "the ANCYL must adapt or die". He called on the ANCYL to leave up to the conditions and challenges of the time. He argued that the ANCYL cannot sustain the same methods of struggle which it had pursued during the era of resistance as such tactics were relevant for defeating the apartheid colonial system which had engulfed the country for two and half centuries.
Cde Peter called on the ANCYL to adapt to challenges of being the youth organ of the governing party - the ANC. As the ANC was embarking on reconstruction and development of the society, the ANCYL was equally expected to advance issues relating to youth development and their entire social upliftment.
Indeed, since then the ANCYL has been grappling with this very important task of the current phase of the revolution. However, the enormous challenges facing the youth are a cause of concern and have resulted in the youth vulnerability wherein they can be manipulated by all opportunists, including the lumpen proletarians who exploit genuine grievances of the young people.
The challenges of youth unemployment, lack of access to education in particular Tertiary Education, participation of youth in the economy of the country, socials challenges including HIV/AIDS and lack of transformation in Sport remain critical issues that requires a stronger ANCYL.
Without adopting adventurism, the success in dealing with these challenges needs the ANCYL that will not be afraid of raising these issues openly and advocate for real solutions to such challenges. It requires the ANCYL which will earn the real status of speaking for the youth and be conversant with the plight of the youth.
The ANCYL should acutely understand that some of these challenges will require radical solutions which might not be easily accepted by some within the broader movement. Advocating for such solution will depend only on locating the ANCYL at the centre of policy development and implementation while continue striving to reclaim the political hegemonic of the ANCYL in the ANC and broader mass democratic movement.
In whatever the ANCYL does going forward, it ought to be conscious that it belongs to the youth and it also belongs to the ANC. It is the youth organ and therefore must be youthful and be characterised by youth radicalism whilst adhering to the organisational principle of advocating political perspective with revolutionary discipline and within structures of the ANC. The principle of democratic centralism binds all organs of the ANC including its leagues. This means that there is a space for debates but such should be within structures of the movement and once decisions are taken all should adhere to such decisions irrespective of what was a person's view during the debate.
The ANCYL belongs to the youth as a social stratum within society. The ANCYL must not fashion itself in a way that does not appeal to this stratum. It must be youthful, conversant with youth issues and fight for success of the youth within the ANC and in the society. It must win and earn the respect of the youth by real advancing their issues and not just paying lip service and grandstanding.
The tools of analysis emphasise that "a person does not live as he thinks but rather thinks as he lives". Hopeful, the rebuilding process will produce an army of young people within ANCYL structures who will speak with real knowledge and practical involvement in addressing the plight of the youth.
Without being judgemental, the current rebuilding process of the ANCYL has been about structural revival and nothing about locating the ANCYL on youth issues. This has led to the ANC, not just the ANCYL, being almost irrelevant to the youth.
Coupled with lack of advancing youth issues, the rebuilding process has so far ignored the tasks of imbuing the youth league membership with the understanding of historical role of the ANCYL, the principal twin tasks of the ANCYL, the meaning of autonomy, revolutionary discipline as opposed to adventurism and populism as well as the theory of the revolution, just to mention the basics necessary for the understanding the ANC and ANCYL.
The rebuilding is unfolding while the ANC needs a stronger ANCYL. However, the progress thus far reflects that we still have a lot do towards attaining the desired and relevant ANCYL.
The current internal challenges require the ANC to build a contingent of the youth that we resist all persisting tendencies that affect the organisation including manipulation of organisational process for self-interests and positions. The youth contingent that will confront corruption, opportunism and populism afflicting the ANC.
The ANC needs to avoid a convenience of staying with the weak and paralysed ANCYL which has no capacity to raise difficult issues as that provide a comfort zone of having no critical internal voice. The ANC must avoid tempering and interfering with the rebuilding process to secure support for the future as that will erode the very principles that the decade of the cadre programme seeks to restore.
Owing to Youth League history, the process of rebuilding should produce the following:
A radical ANCYL which speak without fear or favour. The ANCYL which will not be loyal to leaders in order to secure parliamentary seats or positions but be propelled by a desire of serving with dedication. In the same vein, the ANCYL steeped in understanding and adherence to the political discipline of the ANC, including understanding that autonomy does not mean independence.
A hard working contingent of the organisation who understand collective leadership and responsibility. The post 2008 period eroded the principle of collective leadership in the ANCYL and replaced it with demagogic leadership who led through imposing themselves than debating and sharing ideas to build collective direction and programme.
A youthful ANCYL which understand the current dynamism within the youth sections of the society. This should include influencing their behaviour.
ANCYL that will reclaim a space of being "a defined body of opinion within the movement" which will always introduce fresh, dynamic and prospering ideas which take the revolution to the higher levels. This will help ensure that the ANC does not suffer from stagnation.
The ANCYL which will reflect all youth interests in general and not entrysm where other youth formations captures the ANCYL for their own sake and interests. In this regard the ANCYL had a culture of nurturing and drawing its leadership right from lower structures. This helped to avoid parachuting where people get elected to serve in higher structures within having been groomed in lower structures. The post 2008 environment introduced a situation where people got elected to higher structures having no understanding of traditions and principles of the organisation which eroded leadership character and respect the ANCYL has earned over decades.
Most importantly, the rebuilding process should not produce people who will be elected for the sake of status and material benefit, but the cadreship that will seek to emulate the generations that epitomised great sense of dedication and propelled by the understanding that they serve the people not themselves. We must find comfort in the knowledge that it is an honour to serve.
Sihle Zikalala is a former ANCYL Secretary General
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