Johannesburg – – The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) called for unity after it found that most of its members participated in factional battles stemming from its parent body.
The ANCYL National Youth Task Team (NYTT) said its primary concern should be focused on the plight of young people in the country and “we must eliminate divisions that are not borne out of politics but are based on personality cults and stomach lining”.
The ANCYL NYTT met on Sunday through a virtual forum just a few weeks after the ANC declared 2022 “The Year of Unity and Renewal to Defend and Advance South Africa’s Democratic Gains” on January 8.
The ANCYL said this week that rebuilding, revival, renewing, reimagining and repositioning (the five Rs) remained its primary task as it prepared for the structure’s 26th national congress.
It stated that the NYTT deliberated at length about the importance of unity and renewal as it prepared structures of the organisation for the congress.
“Among the toxic negative tendencies witnessed in this rebuilding phase was institutionalised factionalism created along ANC factional lines which lack genuine ideological perspective.
“The meeting noted that most members are guilty of some type of wrongdoings or factional behaviour that has contributed to a decline in the organisation’s state,” the statement read.
The structure said they welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address and his announcement to revitalise the National Youth Service, which will recruit its first cohort of 50 000 young people during the year.
“However, the number is too conservative given the crisis of youth unemployment we are currently seized with. A practical introduction of this should have at least targeted 500 000 young people,” it said.
It demanded that the Department of Public Service and Administration account for those entry-level government jobs advertised with a requirement of experience.
The ANCYL NYTT said Ramaphosa’s call to the private sector to drop experience as a hiring requirement was noted, but they were dissatisfied with the absence of an account on the government’s implementation of scrapping experience requirements for entry-level work.
“We continue to see departments at various levels still advertising entry-level with experience requirements.”
It added that the “alarming” numbers of illegal recruitment practice of foreign workers were compounding South Africa’s unemployment problems and called for an amendment to the Employment Service Act.
“The ANCYL NYTT is committed to ensuring that our ANC-led government is held accountable and continuously provides avenues for young people to receive economic sustenance and jobs.
“The organisation will embark on nationwide campaigns to assist young people with basic skills in job hunting and employability,” it said.
It was also in the process of developing a discussion document that will speak to the structure of the economy broadly and include interventions to “radically transform the economy”.
Political Bureau
