Screenshot of of the summary of my open letter to the ANC Youth League, published by Timeslive iLIVE on 9 December 2011. (Click to enlarge.)
This is a summary of the open letter I’ve written to the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in December 2011, when the organisation was in a lot of trouble after Mr. Julius Malema – then ANCYL president – and other senior leaders were disciplined by the ANC. It was written before their appeal was heard.
Timeslive iLIVE published the summary, but the link is no longer available, so I’m posting the text here.
Click here to see the full open letter.
Open letter to members of the ANC Youth League: iLIVE
CatsBell by email | 09 December, 2011 15:05
ANCYL members face a choice: support the YL leadership against the ANC, or the other way round. CatsBell takes you through your options.
The recent ruling of the ANC’s National Disciplinary Committee against the top leadership of the ANCYL is in fact a ruling against every YL member: those who have been found guilty were accountable to you.
So here are some of the things that the ANC says about you:
“[…]damaged the integrity of the ANC and the international reputation of South Africa[…]”; “[…]misconduct […] would be prejudicial to South African society as a whole[…]”, and quite a bit more.
They’re really laying into you, man. I mean… “prejudicial to South African society as a whole”? That alone is an insult that you just can’t ignore.
Options for getting rid of the negative label
As I see it, you can do one of three things to get rid of the negative label which the NDC ruling has hung around your neck:
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Terminate your membership of the ANC. (That will show that you don’t accept the label.)
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Prove that the ANC made a mistake in the ruling.
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Redeem yourself by dissociating yourself publicly from everything which that label represents.
First step: Decide if the NDC ruling was fair or not
Before you can choose the option that’s right for you, you’d obviously have to decide whether the NDC ruling is fair or not.
In the full version of this letter, I look at what I consider to be the two key aspects of the defence:
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the claim that the NDC used the wrong version of the YL constitution and therefore came to the wrong conclusions
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the claim that the members who were disciplined are the victims of a conspiracy against their principled position on nationalisation and expropriation
On both points the ruling looks substantially fair to me, but if you have reached a different conclusion, I have an analysis of options for you too:
If you feel the NDC ruling was UNFAIR
You can relax for the moment: the YL NEC is appealing on your behalf. You don’t accept being called names by the ANC NDC – you’re disputing the negative label.
However, there’s virtually no chance that the Appeals Committee will overturn the ruling: the ANC leadership simply can’t afford to have sustained “friendly fire” aimed at HQ. So you’re likely to find yourself back at square one soon: a member of a party which has hung a pretty nasty label around your neck.
Your only honourable option will be to terminate your membership of the ANC – what kind of a clown would want to cling to a party that has unfairly branded her/him as harmful to the interests of the party and country?
If you feel the NDC ruling was FAIR
You’ve decided the ANCYL’s top leaders are guilty as charged and, by implication, you are also guilty of those charges for failing to hold your leadership to account.
Congratulations! In my view you’ve reached the only honest, logical conclusion that can be drawn from this sorry mess. You’ve taken the first step on the road to clearing your name and that of the YL as a whole.
You’ve got your work cut out for you, though. The leaders who have dragged your name through the mud are still in charge, and they continue to damage your reputation with their reckless pronouncements. And even after Mr. Malema’s suspension come into effect, as is likely to happen, the rest of the NEC members are still his hand-picked buddies.
The only solution is to get rid of the entire YL NEC. The way to do it is to organise from branch level for the YL Provincial Executive Committees to request an Extra-Ordinary Congress, where a new NEC can be elected. If six or more provinces request it, it’s on.
It may seem like a daunting task now, but in politics 24 hours is a long time. I’m sure many other YL members share your concerns and the tide can turn quickly. There are already stirrings of discontent in several provinces as we speak.
The important thing is to act now. You can’t wait for the outcome of the Appeals Committee process – only an opportunist waits to see how the wind blows before deciding what is right and wrong. The chance of the appeal succeeding is minuscule anyway, so you’re not likely to gain anything by waiting.
Good luck! Much depends on your success. Without a changing of the guard at the YL, the organisation cannot play a meaningful role in tackling the national crisis of unemployment and poverty among the youth.
Comments
I’d appreciate comments from anybody who has something to add to the debate, and particularly from Youth League members. If you know someone with something to say on these issues, send them a link to the letter and let’s hear it. Time for some rational debate on important issues which have, so far, generated far more heat than light.
But please, spare the rod until you’ve read the full letter, OK? It’s in different parts, so if you don’t have time to read the whole letter, you can just go to the part about which you need more information.
I’ll try and respond to comments addressed to me where I feel I have something to add to the debate, and as time permits.
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