ANCYL Statement on remarks attributed to J Malema
The African National Congress Youth League has noted the remarks attributed to Julius Malema reported in The Star newspaper, 28 November 2012.
These bloodcurdling remarks are not worthy of any leader, let alone one trusted by not only the youth but thousands of South Africans as has been demonstrated time and again. Julius Malema should be ashamed that he has failed to show leadership to the youth of South Africa by constructively engaging issues of conflict he perceived.
These reports must indeed be a disappointment to the youth who look upon him as a leader of young people of this country and beyond. Julius Malema's unfortunate action of resorting to public squabbling and accusations is not befitting the stature with which young people regard our organization, the African National Congress Youth League, and hence we will rise to defend anything we view as an unwarranted attack against it, its views and positions.
The Deputy President of the ANC Youth League, Comrade Lamola, is attacked for saying that the ANC Youth League has no case to answer in court and therefore will not be organising any rallies for or against Julius. The African National Congress Youth League is an organization far above any individual. It is a fact that the ANC Youth League is not accused of money laundering in any court of law and the Deputy President remains correct in distancing the organization from private issues of individuals regardless of what position they may or may not hold in the organization.
The National Executive Committee has no resolution to support individual members of the organization who are appear before court in respect of their personal affairs, neither have we sought to stop members who want to attend in support of Julius in their personal capacity. The theory of the organization teaches us there is an organization and there are individuals; they relate dialectically, being interrelated and interdependent but independent from each other.
It is when the movement abrogates upon itself challenges that are not of its making but of individuals, that you begin to build a cult of personality and find the organization entwined in messes such as The Spear saga and many we have seen in recent days.
We therefore call on all members and supporters of the ANC Youth League to put aside any differences they may have in pursuit of a broader and more important agenda. Our cause for Economic Freedom in our Lifetime will not be derailed by petty, territorial squabbles fuelled by the conflict-hungry media. The Deputy President of the ANC Youth League, Comrade Ronald Lamola, shall continue to lead the organization as constitutionally obligated and elected unopposed at Congress to do so.
The NEC as a collective has fought tirelessly for the reinstatement of expelled and suspended comrades, including Comrade Sindiso Magaqa. It is mischievous and disingenuous today to seek to isolate Comrade Lamola and blame him for the failure of comrades to listen to the advice of the collective. Even within the NEC of the ANC, the ANCYL, represented by the Deputy President and Deputy Secretary-General, defended these comrades who then themselves decided to define themselves outside of the organization through the Friends of the Youth League.
Comrade Malema must not now allow himself to play into the hands of those who are waiting in the sidelines, patiently seeking an opportunity to be proven correct that he would rule from the grave and would turn on the ANC when it got too cold outside.
The ANC Youth League does not depend on the endorsement of any individual to carry through the mandate the collective was handed by branches at the 24th National Congress. The decision to call for change led by Comrade Kgalema Motlanthe and Comrade Fikile Mbalula in the ANC arises from considered deliberation by structures at all levels of the organization having understood the immense challenges facing us. This is a campaign of the ANC Youth League; we own it as members of the League and members of the ANC.
We have no doubt therefore that our programme for this radical and fundamental change underpinned by organizational renewal is safe in the hands of the ANC Youth League led by the National Executive Committee with Comrade Lamola at the helm. No one must ever seek to reduce decisions of the organization to whims of individuals and it is an insult to the ANC Youth League that anyone would claim that the organization can be controlled based on the views and deals reached by any individual member.
We send a cautionary warning to members of the organization and those who still identify themselves with the organization that the campaign for decisive change in Manguang is a campaign driven and championed by young people everywhere with the hope of realizing a better future for themselves. No one must stand on rooftops and seek to divide us or derail this campaign for their own personal and selfish gains, narrow upmanship games and to advance shaky political standing. Economic Freedom in our Lifetime will be delivered by all of us, young and old, united, fighting together side by side to realize the aspirations of our people.
Statement issued by the African National Congress Youth League, November 28 2012
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