"Turning and turning in the widening gyre, The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;  Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack of all conviction while the worst  are full of passionate intensity." William Butler Yeats: Second Coming.

I was immediately reminded of Yeats's words this week as I pondered with shock   the recent events in the ANCYL where Stella Ndabeni of the ANCYL was  given a vote of no confidence by the NEC this after she allegedly deposed that the ANCYL NEC took a decision to expel Masoga even before the Disciplinary was convened. She is currently awaiting a disciplinary hearing. Lehlogonolo Masoga was expelled by the National Disciplinary Committee of the ANCYL and this after he was asked by senior ANC leaders to halt a court challenge to the disciplinary hearing that he was subjected to, for disagreeing with the actions of ANCYL National Executive in how they handled the Limpopo Provincial Conference. 

In a separate matter the Eastern Cape ANCYL PEC was again disbanded by the ANCYL National Executive Committee in spite of a court order which reinstated the PEC under Mlibo Qoboshiyane and found that the ANCYL executive ought not to have disbanded the PEC. The ANCYL has called that decision of the court as a "drunken decision" and will appeal. However they have made it clear that they will continue with the provincial conference end of this week. Both Masoga and Eastern Cape PEC are now approaching the courts for relief against the adverse decisions of the National Executive.

All of the above mentioned events happen against the backdrop of repositioning and preparation for the National Elective Conference of the ANCYL in 2011. The current incumbent (s), by the way, ascended to leadership through a process of facilitation and mediation as opposed to outright majority at conference.

We must therefore ask the question whether is it correct to act so brazen in dealing with fellow comrades only because they dared to share a view different from yours about how the organization should proceed? Do these ominous signs suggest a deep-seated problem of lack of leadership in the organization? Do they suggest   that the culture of consensus building has been replaced by bulwark-ism?

Have comrades and particularly those in leadership, forgotten the wise words of Nelson Mandela at the time of the election of Thabo Mbeki as President of the ANC at the Mafikeng Conference in 1997?  Madiba said, "...here are the reigns of the movement - protect and guard its precious legacy; defend its unity and integrity as committed disciples of change; pursue its popular objectives like true revolutionaries who seek only to serve the nation..."   Is the current Youth League collective being true to these values?  Are their actions not contrary to this injunction from our stalwart whose wisdom has guided us to freedom?

Even worse is the deafening silence of the ANC National Executive and their inaction to reign in on such tendencies when and where they arise. The innuendo here is that even the ANC National Executive is somewhat powerless. Well..., I shudder to think that the ANC National Executive will be powerless to act against individuals who choose to run the organisation in a heavy handed manner and commandeer everyone to tow their line however wrong it maybe.  

Popo Maja in his article entitled ‘The essence of revolutionary morality' argues that "The danger of our own weaknesses springs not from actions of those who seek to end it ... but from the inaction of those within the leading organs of our movement who allow it to continue. The demand for excellent leadership during the times of internal strife has never been greater..."

In essence this is a call for sober voices of reason to be the towering lighthouses in the ANC Executive and redirect the ANC to the right course. They must do this strengthened by the belief that theirs is a just cause in defense of the people's movement. They must debunk Yeats's observation that when anarchy is loosed upon the world the best lack conviction. Equally they must work zealously to quash the passionate intensity of the worst lest these ruin the ANC by their anarchy.  

Alongside discipline, unity is another essential ingredient for a successful revolution. Nelson Mandela makes this point shortly after the 1976 uprisings in his article entitled 'UNITE! MOBILISE! FIGHT ON! BETWEEN THE ANVIL OF UNITED MASS ACTION AND THE HAMMER OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE WE SHALL CRUSH APARTHEID. Madiba says   "This is not the time for the luxury of division and disunity. At all levels and in every walk of life we must close ranks. Within the ranks of the people differences must be submerged to the achievement of a single goal -...."

In the current epoch, Mandela's injunction imposes a fundamental responsibility and duty on both ordinary membership but most importantly on the ANC NEC to take responsibility, correct problems and foster unity within the organisation. As ordinary members of the movement we are neither blind nor deaf. We are acutely aware that these problems manifest themselves primarily as a result of strife for power which in itself is inimical to the culture of the movement or at least not in the manner and in the unprecedented heights we have seen it happening.

The NEC must remember the year 2007 and the trust and the enthusiasm by which people bestowed them leadership. This enthusiasm better explained by W. B. Yeats in his poem, Dreams, where he says "Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths of night and light and the half light, I would spread them under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly for you tread on my dreams."

In that watershed moment in Polokwane, the people spread their dreams under the feet of this current collective. They had hope that this new collective would deliver the organisation to new heights devoid of power mongering and in fighting. They had dreamt that the revolution would not be orphaned or sacrificed at the altar of political expediency.  They had dreamt of a movement devoid of hopelessness. 

I expect the ANC NEC to respect the trust and loyalty of our people. They must act, they must act now and they must act correctly!!!

Adv Unathi Bongco is member of the ANCYL and ANC and writes in his personal capacity

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter