The African National Congress Youth League’s electoral conference in Limpopo will have a ripple effect on the upcoming conferences in other provinces. This is according to party structures that are at the summit that is under way in Mokopane.
This comes as the provincial mother-body gears up for its conference in June, ahead of the ANC’s national elective conference scheduled for December. The Limpopo and Northern Cape ANCYL are the first to hold elective conferences this weekend.
About six-hundred ANC Youth League delegates are attending the conference in Mokopane, to elect their top five provincial leaders and additional members. Some delegates say they are excited to be part of the youth to revive the organisation.
For the past three years, the governing party’s youth league has been run by a task team, following its failure to hold an elective conference. The delegates say they want to renew the organisation to ensure that it tackles issues of the youth on national and provincial level.
Some young people at the provincial electoral conference have expressed how excited they are now that ANC Youth League is going to be revived and be given an opportunity to elect a leadership to represent young people in the affairs of this country and the society. They say they have been waiting for this for this opportunity as young people so that they can get leadership and address the issues they have in hand. They have also expressed that this also helps psychologically because it encourages other comrades in other provinces that this can be done.”
The Young Communist League which is the alliance to the ANCYL in Limpopo pledges support to the ANCYL in Limpopo.
YCL Provincial chairperson Siyabonga Ramalwa says, “We want a Youth League which is going to be voicing out issues of young people in the province and speaking about empowerment. Speaking of all mistreatments which young people are facing within our province, gender based violence, drugs, crime, and the special economic zones which are happening within our province. These are paramount issues, which should be at the top of the agenda and discussion amongst the young people in particular the ANC Youth League. We’re tired of young people who are unemployed. So that is the reason why we’re saying we’re excited, but we want the ANC Youth League which will be head on and confront issues without fear or favour.”
ANCYL congress in the Northern Cape:
