The ANC Youth League’s (ANCYL) organisational report paints a bleak picture of the formation’s popularity and growth, despite ongoing efforts to revive its structures.
According to the report, delivered by ANCYL secretary-general Mntuwoxolo Ngudle at the second national general council (NGC) in Kimberley, Northern Cape, this week, the league is battling several weaknesses, key among them being a sharp decline in active branches and membership.
Currently, membership stands at just over 360 000, a steep drop from the 640 000 recorded in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to former youth league member Sifiso Mtsweni.
Only four provinces, namely Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, and Northern Cape, have managed to grow their numbers in recent times. The remaining provinces are on a steady decline, with Eastern Cape reported as the most affected. Sub-structures in the province have collapsed, and there is little interest among members in attending meetings.
The province blames the situation on poor functionality in regions, factionalism, a culture of patronage, and limited resources. Much like its mother body, the ANCYL is also grappling with the state of its Western Cape structures, where the organisation’s absence from youth activism has raised red flags.
The report identifies the Overberg and Central Karoo regions as “fragile”, while Boland, Southern Cape and West Coast are said to be rebuilding branches.
“The assessment revealed that the youth league in the Western Cape is urgently in need of revival. Many branches are dysfunctional or inactive, membership has sharply declined, and recruitment has long been neglected.
“While many branches remain inactive or under-resourced, there is encouraging progress in membership recruitment, branch relaunches, and youth mobilisation across all six regions. Urban areas such as Dullah Omar (Cape Town metro) show strong organisational structures,” the report reads.
In some provinces, Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA partners, the South African Students Congress (Sasco) and the Congress of South African Students (Cosas), have ceased to exist. The NGC report highlights inconsistent collaboration between PYA structures, while the Northern Cape report reveals that there are currently no Cosas structures in the province.
“The PYA is almost non-existent at the national level. Since July 2023, we have held zero PYA summits and only three PYA secretariat meetings. This indicates that the relationship between PYA structures is stagnant and unhealthy,” the report states.
Despite these shortcomings, the league says it is satisfied with Sasco’s performance at institutions of higher learning across the country.
“The ANCYL has a very strong working relationship with the student movement and continuously supports them in SRC elections, which it has resolved not to contest.
However, Sasco’s dominance in recent years has been challenged by rising competition from the EFF Student Command, contrary to remarks made by Ngudle downplaying their influence.
Looking ahead, the ANCYL intends to develop a digital membership system aimed at improving efficiency and simplifying renewals.
