Despite ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa’s assertion that the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) is ready to lead, the organisation failed to deliver basic services at the 27th elective conference in Polokwane, Limpopo.
At the opening of this conference, Ramaphosa said: “The ANC Youth League has come of age, and it is ready to lead.”
He further said the participation of the ANCYL at the mother body’s national general council shows that it is ready to take responsibility for the “country’s future”.
He was speaking at the University of Limpopo on Monday, where the ANCYL held its conference, which was attended by more than 3000 delegates.
Sleeping in taxis and eating brown bread
But this conference was marred by numerous problems, including food challenges, time delays, difficulties accommodating delegates, and allegations of politically managed processes, such as the election of officials.
Some slept in taxis and buses while trying to get registered as delegates at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, while some of the delegates also complained about receiving poor-quality food at the event, including only brown bread for breakfast.
Dysfunctional media lounge
The media also faced challenges: there was no adequate media lounge for reporters to work from until the last day of the conference.
While a media room had been prepared on Monday, it was far from the plenary tent where delegates were meeting.
Some estimate it was 2km away; it had no proper tables and chairs, no Wi-Fi, and no bathroom.
Accreditation was a major problem for both reporters and delegates to the conference, a notice from the ANCYL indicated that accreditation will be settled between last week Saturday and the following Sunday.
But even at the end of the conference, there were some people without accreditation.
Because the conference sometimes ran until the early hours of the morning, delegates would only be given dinner then.
On Monday, the president of the ANCYL, Collen Malatji, told reporters in a media briefing that the conference was orderly and that there was no chaos, unlike previous ANCYL conferences before his term in office.
The programme for the days of the conference changed in split seconds, which left reporters confused about what to cover and which sessions were open to the media and which ones were closed.
Despite all of these problems, the newly elected leadership of the ANCYL carried on like there was nothing wrong; instead, they had plans to celebrate their elections at the homestead of ANC stalwart Peter Mokaba, who is also from Polokwane.
Some delegates at the conference used their time in Polokwane to drink alcohol in the parking lot, while chaos and confusion continued to become the order of the day.
The Citizen contacted the ANC’s communications team to understand why the conference was poorly organised, but there was no response to the enquiry by the time of publication.
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A pat on the back
On Wednesday, the party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, addressed the conference before delegates dispersed to their different provinces.
Some reportedly left earlier when they realised the elected leaders were uncontested.
Mbalula told the delegates that the ANCYL had matured and grown, as it had been able to hold a congress without the mother body’s intervention.
“You are now a fully fledged organ of the African National Congress, so I want to thank you on behalf of the National Executive Committee for leading from the front, for making us proud. Let us now occupy the trenches of mobilising young people around their issues.”
He said the ANCYL must ensure that it becomes the “super voice” of young people in the country.
“For those who will not make it to the NEC of the ANCYL we are waiting for you in the ANC; come home and lead the African National Congress,” he said.
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