Who does the ANCYL represent?

27 September 2017

It certainly appears that the leader of the ANC Youth League, Collen Maine, has committed highly questionable acts. On the face of it, his acts could in due course find him convicted of bribery and corruption.

Just Coal CEO, Joe Singh, has admitted that he paid the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) half a million Rand in exchange for political favour.

Reports show that ANCYL president, Collen Maine, accepted a R500 000 “donation” from Singh, aimed at ensuring that the ANCYL would convince Eskom not to terminate their contract with Just Coal.

Bribery is a crime and Maine must be held accountable for his illegal and unethical conduct.

The DA also calls on the ANCYL to come clean and prove that this was a legitimate donation and that the monies did not line the pockets of any one individual but that it went towards the empowerment of our youth.

Maine ostensibly contravened Section 3 of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities (PACCA) Act, which states that:

“Any person who, directly or indirectly […] (a) accepts or agrees or offers to accept any gratification from any other person, whether for the benefit of himself or herself or for the benefit of another person; or […] (b) gives or agrees or offers to give to any other person any gratification, whether for the benefit of that other person or for the benefit of another person, in order to act, personally or by influencing another person so to act, in a manner [which is] illegal, dishonest, unauthorised, incomplete, or biased […]is guilty of the offence of corruption”.

We call on the ANC to call the ANCYL to task. More specifically, we call on the ANCYL to conduct an investigation into the conduct of Collen Maine.

The ANC now has a national brand that is inextricably linked with corruption. If they take no action and feel to heed our call, this will signal the death knell of the ANC and its tainted ANCYL.

It is obvious that the ANCYL does not represent the interests of young people.

More and more, they have been used as a mouthpiece for Jacob Zuma to defend his actions and those of the Guptas.

The youth are disproportionately affected by unemployment in South Africa. If the ANCYL has been lining their pockets for selfish personal gain rather than advancing the developmental goals of the Youth then the ANCYL is dead.

Gone are the days of heroes like Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela in the Youth League.

The Democratic Alliance is the new political home of young South Africans who have been marginalised and excluded by a failed ANC government.

Issued by Michael Shackleton, Leader of the DA National Youth Working Group, 27 September 2017