ANCYL are anarchists: Gigaba
2011-12-15 10:02
Polokwane - Militant members of the ANC Youth League can be seen as anarchists because they lack the discipline and patience to achieve economic freedom, Public Enterprises Minister and former league president Malusi Gigaba said on Thursday.
“Military and discipline are two sides of the same coin, you can’t push democratic national revolution unless you want fundamental change... But a militant who has no discipline is an anarchist,” he said at the OR Tambo Memorial lecture in Polokwane.
“Militant is what makes you think deeper, which makes you want to be radical and [seek] far reaching change.
"Militant does not mean swearing, it does not mean insulting fellow comrades, it does not mean throwing chairs and stones at fellow comrades and it does not mean jumping on top of [a] table with your pants down," Gigaba said.
The crowd then responded by calling out the name of embattled league president Julius Malema.
Malema has repeatedly called league members "economic freedom fighters" who were fighting for the nationalisation of mines and want to take the country's economy back from "white capital".
Switch off taps of corruption
He currently faces a five-year suspension from the ANC for sowing division and bringing the party into disrepute.
Gigaba said OR Tambo was a disciplined and patient leader of the league, who understood when to make a move.
“OR Tambo once said, 'The youth are correct to be impatient for victory, but they must delay because you must never act in contrary to what people see on their interest'," Gigaba said.
He said a love of money among ANC members was killing the organisation.
“The impact of money in our movement today and its influence in ANC... I don’t think we can’t solve it. We must switch off taps of corruption and arrest those who are involved in corruption," he said.
He also criticised Malema for chanting slogans that promoted racism and were anti-ANC.
“You can’t go and be ANC Youth League and become anti-ANC Youth League at the same time."
He said members who acted against ANC policy should leave the party.
"ANC is like a big river with many tributaries... all of them feed [and] they exist because the river exists. The river can stop supplying [and] it will continue to exist.”
- SAPA