ANCYL has become a group of ‘henchmen’, says Mantashe
The youth league, according to Mantashe, is a colossal mess that spends its days attacking ANC individuals they do not agree with.
Sdumo Dlamini together with Collin Maine, Thobeka Madiba and President Zuma during his 75th birthday bash in Soweto. Picture by Simon Allison
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said in the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) central committee meeting taking place at St George’s Hotel in Irene that the ANC Youth League had ceased to be a movement.
Instead, they had become “henchmen” who gunned for individuals in the ANC to create nonexistent enemies.
Mantashe said the chaos within the youth league was so chronic that, judging by their public pronouncements, they had no structures in place, and the only work they did currently was to attack key ANC leaders they disagreed with.
“Our own youth league has decided to be henchmen who can be unleashed on individual comrades. When you have a structure like that, you must appreciate that you almost have no structure,” he said.
Mantashe said, with the current directionless league, the “structure is not going to play its rightful role”.
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He said their approach had also made them incongruous with the ANC’s decision to unite alliance partners and eliminate factional fights.
The league has chosen former minister and AU commission chair Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as its preferred candidate to take over from Jacob Zuma at the elective conference in December.
The Star reports Mantashe went into detail and mentioned incidents where the league’s actions brought the organisation into disrepute.
“Cyril Ramaphosa and Pravin Gordhan are not their enemies, they are not the enemies of the revolution.
“The youth league did that to Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe, and then it became their trademark to be henchmen that can be unleashed on individuals cadres of the movement,” he added.
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