ANCYL STATEMENT ON DEPUTY PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA'S PRONOUNCEMENT OF HIS “WINNING” TEAM

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is disappointed, by divisive remarks – “winning team” by the Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC) Cde Cyril Ramaphosa.

Whilst the ANCYL respects the rights of Cde Ramaphosa as enshrined in rule 5 of the ANC constitution, his pronouncements of his  so-called “ winning” team exposes his lack of respect to the organizational processes and procedures. That kind of behavior undermines the current process of the ANC BGM’s where members are nominating their preferred candidates using guiding documents like “Through the eye of the needle”.. By pronouncing his so-called “winning” team, the Presidential hopeful Cde Ramaphosa demonstrated his hunger to lead at all costs even if his utterances can cause the disunity of the organization. Cde Ramaphosa has stooped so low by purporting that there is a winning team in the ANC and thus suggesting that there is also a losing team.

It is not recorded anywhere in the history books of the ANC that the Presidential hopeful took a podium and pronounced names of his preferred candidates to lead with him/her and titled that a “ winning” team. Cde Ramaphosa is the first and hopefully he is the last to utter such divisive statements. The ANCYL advises Cde Ramaphosa to desist from using such divisive language of “winning” teams in the ANC. The people that he mentioned as his “winning” team must also distance themselves from such a divisive title. In the ANC there are no winning teams. The ANC is a unitary organization and the winner remains the ANC. All members of the ANC subscribe to the principle of creating a united, non-racial, non-sexiest, democratic society and the liberation of Africans in particular, and black people in general from economic bondage.

The ANCYL calls for its supporters, members and the general membership of the ANC to focus on the ANC BGMs processes and deliberate on the policy proposals that emanates from the ANC National Policy conference which include amongst others; land expropriation without compensation, scrapping of the requirement for experience on entry job level, free education, supply of sanitary towels to girl learners, 40% of procurement opportunities being ring-fenced for business owned by youth, etc.

Youth unemployment and poverty can only be defeated through youth skills revolution and radical economic transformation. The ANC branches must use “Through the eye of the needle” to nominate leaders who will ensure that there is economic freedom in our lifetime.

Statement issued by Mlondi Mkhize, ANCYL national spokesperson, 7 November 2017