STATEMENT OF THE ANC YOUTH LEAGUE OFFICIALS

6 September 2015 

The newly elected leadership of the ANCYL would like to acknowledge and thank the ANC NEC for its unwavering commitment to the existence and purpose of the ANCYL. This has been demonstrated by their patience and painstaking effort to set in motion a number of processes that culminated in the 25th National Congress which has successfully produced an elected leadership collective of the ANCYL.

We want to equally acknowledge and thank the two National Task Teams initiated by the NEC whose efforts led to the Consultative Congress last year in December and the National Congress that ended today. These teams have provided leadership and guidance during a very difficult period in the life of the ANCYL. We also want to acknowledge and thank provincial structures and their leadership collective for steering the process involving branches towards a successful National Congress. 

This collective sitting before you is drawn from structures of the ANCYL nationally and collectively they have accumulated experience of organizational work, leadership and knowledge of the organization. We want to thank the humbling acknowledgement by members of the ANCYL drawn from all corners of the country, bestowing on us the mammoth responsibility of leading not just the organization, but also to take forward the legacy of this important formation whose history continues to break new ground in advancing the history and purpose of our struggle.

As we rise to occupy the all-important responsibility, we are mindful of the role played by our founding fathers and predecessors. Their wisdom and fearless courage has been the hallmark of generations of young militants who have been pivotal in shaping the organizational mindset of the MDM structures under the leadership of the ANC. Arising out of this congress, we have been charged to carry on with the militant and radical implementation of the task radical economic transformation. We commit ourselves to that mandate and we will not fail.

At the centre of our mandate will be the drive to consolidating internal unity, build cohesion and subject ourselves to the strategic leadership of the ANC. 

We will not be lapdogs of the ANC but an ANC component that understands and appreciates the urgency of fast tracking the objectives of the National Democratic a Revolution as guided by the Freedom Charter. 

We will work with all components of the ANC structures and the Alliance to ensure consolidation of our central strategy in the second phase of the transition towards the National Democratic Society. 

Our war cry remains 'Economic Freedom in our Lifetime'!

We are today reclaiming our intellectual property of economic freedom as originated by the ANC and embraced by the ANCYL.

Our programme of action will be guided by the decisions taken in the 25th National Congress through the resolutions as adopted, as well as previous ANCYL decisions consistent with the ANC policy decisions. Broadly our programme will address the following:

- Organizational renewal and development 

- Building solidarity through a vibrant programme working with  progressive fraternal organizations the world over within the context of South-South relations 

- Positioning the youth as active participants in the economy as creators of employment particularly those history excluded. We will pursue the constitutional means to expropriate land to fast-track land ownership and redistribution  

- Engage young people as active players in social development arena and confront the imperatives to ensure a more equal society. The youth must reclaim their place as agents of change and as catalysts of our transformation agenda

- Occupy our place in the battle of ideas, through appropriation of the superstructure 

- We will continue to inject vibrancy in our legislatures and structures of government by ensuring consequences management for non-performance and ineffectiveness 

- Implementation of ANCYL Constitutional amendments to bring the ANCYL in life with the challenge

We will align these with the ANC's 53rd conference decisions to ensure that there are synergies between the ANCYL work and that of the mother body. A rider is that we will energize these programmes to ensure accelerated socio-economic transformation of society. In our work we will engage all sectors of society including business, civil society and organized labour to provide solutions to problems besetting our society particularly to address the perennial challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality. 

We will marshal our structures to lead all youth campaigns that confront backward thinking and to challenge those impeding transformation of society. In this context we will prioritize programmes like the transformation of universities, remove offensive symbols and ensure representative of our heritage taking advantage of our diversity. 

One of our immediate tasks is to inject new energy in the ANC's local government elections campaign to ensure that we reclaim lost ground to formations that will not take the country forward. We are serving a notice to those that think the ANCYL has lost its bite: 'the young lions' are alive and determined to serve our people and reclaim the legitimacy of the ANC as the champion of our struggle and the parliament of our people.

President - Collen Maine

Deputy President - Desmond Moela

Secretary General - Njabulo Nzuza

Deputy Secretary General - Thandi Moraka

Treasurer General - Reggie Nkabinde

Statement issued by National Officials, African National Congress Youth League, September 6 2015