ANC Youth League (ANCYL) Western Cape Provincial Working Committee (PWC) Statement
4 February 2016
Background
The PWC of the ANCYL met on Tuesday 2 February 2016 to assess its political and organizational work and chart our way forward.
Racism in the DA-governed Western Cape
The PWC assessed the report from its #End Racism March. We reiterated that a non- racial society can only be truly built if there is justice in our society and if young people stand up to acts of racism by saying that ‘Enough is Enough’.
We welcome the great support we received from all quarters for our march on Friday 22 January 2016 to the DA Federal Offices and all its build-up programmes. The ANCYL expresses its appreciation for the efforts that many activists and volunteers have put in towards the success of the march. To our supporters, we are certain that this brings you closer to joining the organization as members. We have once again proven that ours is qualitative quantity. The ANCYL is a mass organization not because we are a youth wing a ruling party but born out of the fact that we have always been a proactive voice of wisdom in the most adverse political climate, a beacon of hope for both the poor and the rich, and a committed people's representative whose policies are enriched by our character of being people-centred political hub that breeds capacitated leaders who are always persuasive in their executives duties in order to reflect the broader aspirations of the youth of our land.
We thank the ANC Provincial leadership for supporting our march. It has always been our view that it is an organizationally sound and united de-factionalised ANC that respects the ANCYL that can assist the youth in achieving its generational mission of economic freedom and building a strong and fighting ANCYL on the ground.
The DA remains the political home of racists in the Western Cape and South Africa as a whole and the ANCYL will continue to expose the DA’s lack of commitment to address the socio-economic realities of the oppressive legacy of apartheid.
Having said this, the PWC has resolved that our fight against racism will be intensified well beyond the DA and political formations into every aspect of our society. A detailed programme around tackling racism at its core among young people will be fleshed out in and presented after our full Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting.
Back to Schools Campaign
The ANCYL has commenced with the rolling out of its Back to School Campaign throughout the
Western Cape. Having started off by visiting schools on the opening day and then distributing school shoes to needy leaders, our programme will include mentoring, Freedom Day lectures, tutoring in preparation for exams, job shadowing, and hosting a young women’s dialogue and a Provincial basic education summit. All these activities will be rolled out in close cooperation with our student movement ally, COSAS.
Public Viewing of State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2016
On Thursday 11 February 2016 as from 16h30 the ANCYL in the Western will host a public viewing of the State of the Nation Address by President Jacob Zuma at the O R Tambo Hall in Khayelitsha. Young people are called upon to watch the President outline our government’s plan of action in serving out people in this critical year.
As a build-up the ANCYL will be holding various public meetings and dialogues where we will hear from young people in our communities what they would like to see in SONA 2016.
Local Government Elections
On 7 February 2016 the ANCYL will host a National Rally ”kgalema lenyatso” to prepare young people for the local government elections with a specific targeting of the Metros.
The rally will focus on intensifying voter registration from 5-6 March 2016, highlighting youth participation in the elections, and popularizing the ANCYL declaration of 2016 as the year of the South African Youth in line with the 40th Anniversary of the Soweto uprising.
The Rally is planned as follows:
Date: 07 February 2016
Venue: Giant Stadium-Shosanguve
Time: 11h00
Arrangements are underway for members of the ANCYL from across the Western Cape to travel to the rally.
Rebuilding the ANCYL in the Province
The PWC assessed the rebuilding process in the different regions. We appreciate the work done in some regions and accept the poor performance in others. We will be implementing our Back to Branches program to capacitate those regions whose progress we are not satisfied with. This matter will be further discussed in our PEC meeting.
ANC NWC Intervention in the Province
The Provincial Working Committee respects and welcomes the serious interventions made by the ANC NWC through its Officials to assist the PEC of the ANC.
In our message of support at the ANC Western Cape Provincial Conference on 27 June 2015 we reminded delegates that our movement in this difficult province requires leaders that are completely selfless, that promote organisational integrity, that are not corrupt, who will fight factionalism, that will fight for the most vulnerable, who will build and respect the voices of the young and the ANCYL, and possesses revolutionary morality. The decisions taken by the national leadership of the ANC speaks directly to the call we made when this leadership was elected.
The ANCYL in the Western Cape reaffirms to young people that this is our ANC and that we must ensure that one day when we lead this ANC for the betterment of society it is in a much better shape in this province than what it is today. We will work with all concerned to ensure that we have an ANC leadership in the province that we can present to the public of the Western Cape that speaks to their moral consciousness and is not an embarrassment, especially as we plan to liberate the Western Cape in 2016 Local Government Elections from the racist DA.
Our PEC meeting scheduled for Saturday 13 February 2016 will discuss in further depth the state of the ANC in our province within the backdrop of the national intervention.
Statement issued by ANC Youth League Western Cape Provincial Secretary, Andile Mbali, 4 February 2016
