Youth League still matters - ANC
2013-02-27 07:22
Johannesburg - The ANC 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.
The subject was discussed by the party's national officials
and the league's national working committee this week. 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
African National Congress Youth League, and its relationship with the ANC.
Rebuilding
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 in 2011 when several of the league's senior
officials - including its then president Julius Malema - made statements
critical of ANC leaders such as President Jacob Zuma, which were seen to
undermine the ruling party's authority.
Malema was expelled from the party in 2012 following a
disciplinary hearing. His spokesperson Floyd Shivambu was suspended.
- SAPA
