ANC keen to rebuild Youth League

African National Congress secretary general Gwede Mantashe says the party is determined to revive the Youth League. File photo: Boxer Ngwenya

African National Congress secretary general Gwede Mantashe says the party is determined to revive the Youth League. File photo: Boxer Ngwenya

Published Feb 26, 2013

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Johannesburg - The African National Congress remains convinced of the importance of its Youth League, it said on Tuesday.

“Such an activist and radical role must be undertaken within the overall ideological outlook and guidance of the ANC,” the party's secretary general Gwede Mantashe said in a statement.

The subject was discussed by the party's national officials and the League's national working committee on Monday. This was the second meeting on the subject since the beginning of the year, following a resolution of the party's 53rd national conference in December last year.

The conference agreed that the party should assess the ANCYL and its relationship with the ANC.

The ANC said it intended rebuilding the League in line with its obligations, as outlined in the party's constitution.

Mantashe said the ANC's national officials welcomed the League's programme of action. The ANC would present a progress report on the matter to the party's national executive committee.

Questions over the League's role and its relationship with the ruling party were raised when, in 2011, several of the League's senior officials, including its then-president Julius Malema, made statements critical of ANC leaders, including President Jacob Zuma, and which were seen to undermine the ruling party's authority.

Following a disciplinary hearing, Malema was expelled from the party in 2012. His spokesperson Floyd Shivambu was suspended. - Sapa

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