The chaotic elective conference of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in the Harry Gwala region in southern KwaZulu-Natal has been abruptly halted after violence erupted among members.
The conference was held in the town of Kokstad and it was marred by disruption from the moment it started on Thursday.
On Friday, the disagreements got heated, and members were recorded manhandling each other. In one video leaked to Sunday World, delegates were seen violently pushing each other inside the venue. And there were attempts to stop others from recording the embarrassing incident.
SG gave instruction for conference to be stopped
After the leaked video went viral on social media, the league’s secretary-general, Muntuwoxolo Ngudle, immediately wrote to provincial secretary Lulama Mabude and instructed her to halt the conference. He said the incident in the video is unacceptable.
“I am writing to inform you that the ANCYL Harry Gwala Conference must be immediately halted. This is due to the disturbing video circulating, which shows violent behaviour from certain delegates. This conduct is unacceptable and poses a direct threat to the democratic values and unity we stand for as the ANC and the Youth League.
“Such actions cannot and will not be tolerated. The violent behaviour displayed undermines the principles of discipline, respect and unity that we hold dear in our movement. More importantly, this kind of conduct poses [a] serious threat to the integrity of the democratic processes within our movement,” reads the letter from Ngudle to Mabude.
Ngudle said it is critical that the safety of delegates is guaranteed and the dignity of the movement is upheld.
Instruction ignored
“The ANC Youth League must continue to be a space of disciplined, respectful engagement. We cannot allow any form of violence to go unchecked. In trust that you will act on this instruction without hesitation,” Ngudle added.
At the time of compiling this report around 6pm on Friday, the chaotic conference was still going on. This despite Ngudle’s instruction, which was completely ignored.
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