RESPONSE TO THE ANCYL STATEMENT BY THE ANC

The African National Congress is disgusted by the false and inaccurate response of ANCYL to an interview of President Zuma on the issue of disciplinary process that is currently unfolding.  We would like to correct the incorrect version as put out by the ANCYL of the interview. When the President Zuma was asked a question by Peter Ndoro on the ANCYL pronouncement that if the disciplinary process upholds the ruling of the NDC the ANCYL will not remove its President.

To this, the President replied by saying, 'should the NDCA uphold the NDC ruling, the ANCYL will have to appoint a new President'. The response of the President on this matter is not only correct, it is also consistent with ANC Constitution. Therefore the President did not pre-empt the current disciplinary process, if anybody has tried to, it is the ANCYL with their public pronouncements of agitating against the findings.

Secondly, the Youth League statement has incorrectly said the ANC has charged the Youth League leadership, we want to restate that the Comrades that are facing disciplinary measures, are not facing disciplinary measures as Youth League leaders but as members of the ANC.  Given this fact, we expect all ANC members to abide by Constitutional provisions of the ANC Constitution and respect the processes as prescribed.

 The ANC believes that the statement of the ANCYL shows that they did not verify the facts of the President's comments.

The ANC is also concerned about the public rebuke of President Zuma by an ANC structure. This shows no respect for the leadership of the ANC. This matter could have been handled in a dignified manner as opposed to public false accusations.

This tendency seems to be frequent when ANC aligned structures, particularly the ANCYL attack the leadership of the ANC in public. The President of the ANC and the collective leadership of the ANC deserve to be respected.  In the recent past we have noted gestures and comments that show little regard for the leadership. The tone of the ANCYL statement and the gestures underscore this lack of respect.

Statement issued by Jackson Mthembu, ANC National Spokesperson, March 16 2012

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