ANC YOUTH LEAGUE NATIONAL WORKING COMMITTEE STATEMENT ON CONGRESS PREPARATIONS AND STATE OF NATION ADDRESS.

18 February 2011

The African National Congress Youth League National Working Committee met on the 17^th of February 2011 to amongst things, review and concretely streamline preparations for the ANC YL 24^th National Congress and make broad reflections on the 2011 State of Nation Address.

CONGRESS PREPARATIONS

The NWC has noted that all systems are in place to organise a successful ANC Youth League 24^th National Congress, which will happen between the 16^th and 20^th of June 2011 under the theme "YOUTH ACTION FOR ECONOMIC FREEDOM IN OUR LIFETIME" in Gallagher Convention Centre, Johannesburg. Members of the ANC Youth League National Executive Committee will be visiting Provinces and Regions of the ANC YL across the country to take members through all the processes and pre-requirements for delegates to attend the National Congress.

These briefings in Provinces and regions will include an emphasis that no member of the ANC YL will successfully disrupt meetings and processes of the ANC YL in preparation for the 24^th National Congress. The briefings will include a further emphasis that all delegates elected to represent their branches in the 24^th National Congress will register as delegates in their respective Provincial General Councils, which will happen on the first weekend of June 2011. Most importantly, branches of the ANC Youth League should adequately discuss the 24^th National Congress discussion documents and make clear recommendations on what should be the outcomes of Congress.

In preparation of the 24^th National Congress, the National Executive Committee will on Friday the 18^th of February 2011 release the following discussion documents for branches to discuss in preparation for Congress: 1) Nationalisation of Mines Document, 2) Organisational Renewal Document, 3) Constitutional Review Document, and 4) ANC Youth League Induction Manual. On the 2^nd week of March 2011, the National Executive Committee will release the following documents:

1. Economic Transformation perspective: "Towards economic freedom in our lifetime"

2. Social Transformation Document

3. Education and Health Document

4. Communications, Media and the Battle of Ideas

5. Gender Perspective Document

6. International Relations Perspective

7. Youth Development Perspective

STATE OF NATION ADDRESS

The State of Nation Address covered many critical areas, which had to be emphasised in the era of massive youth unemployment and poverty. Majority of the issues the State of Nation Address captured are plausible, particularly the emphasis on job creation. Job creation should most certainly be at the centre of all government programmes because South Africa's biggest crisis is the high levels of unemployment and poverty. An absolute majority of the people who are leading and participating in protests in our communities are unemployed youth. The emphasis on job creation is therefore necessary to respond to this pressing question.

Whilst we welcome the essence of the State of Nation Address, particularly the emphasis on job creation, the ANC Youth League profoundly disagrees with the introduction of tax rebates for big business. Tax allowances and breaks are not very different from the wage subsidies which the ANC rejected and denounced in more than one occasion. It looks like, time and again, attempts to subsidise the private sector (capitalists) with the hope that they will create decent sustainable jobs, are made in various forms and shapes. Government should explore other incentives to attract labour-absorptive industrial and manufacturing investors, not tax breaks and allowances.

The R20 billion tax allowances and breaks should be redirected to development of Small and Medium Enterprises in rural areas, particularly small scale agriculture. Additional to this, the State's procurement policies should prioritise small scale agriculture so that the State's purchasing of food for school feeding schemes, hospitals and prisons empowers this sector.

The R20 billion can also be used for the maintenance of rural and townships infrastructure through a highly labour absorptive model. In this instance, the State should provide sustainable jobs to unemployed people in rural areas and townships whose responsibilities will include maintenance of roads, sports and recreation facilities, providing security in schools and recreational facilities, providing security as community policing forums and all other interventions that will contribute to sustainable livelihoods.

The ANC Youth League objects to tax rebates, wage subsidies and all sorts of models of enticing capitalists because entrusting the private sector with this urgent need of job creation is potentially disastrous. The 17 years of democracy in South Africa have proven that whilst playing an important role in the growth of the economy, the private sector is not interested in the upliftment of our people through job creation and other developmental interventions. We should sooner accept the reality that the private sector is obsessed with profit maximisation and will forever try to use as fewer people as possible to make more profits. The State should therefore play a central and leading role in the creation of sustainable employment for our people.

Once again, the ANC Youth League welcomes government's commitment to create a State Owned Mining Company through endorsement of the African Exploration, Mining and Finance Corporation (AEMFC) as a State Owned Mining Company that will undertake the mining of minerals of strategic significance. We also welcome the commitment that a beneficiation strategy is one of government's priorities for 2011, but calls for a specific Mining Sector Industrial Strategy, which will ensure that majority of beneficiated minerals are locally industrialised.

Overall, the ANC Youth League welcomes many other progressive commitments made in the State of Nation Address, particularly on provision of free sanitary towels, gradual introduction of free education for the poor at post secondary level, National Health Insurance, fight against drugs and substances, and youth development. Because the President committed establishment of Local Offices of the National Youth Development Agency in all Municipalities in the 2010 State of Nation Address, we call on the National Treasury to this time appreciate this commitment and allocate the necessary resources for the stabilisation of youth development at the local sphere of society.

Statement issued by Floyd Shivambu, ANC Youth League Spokesperson, February 18 2011

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