The glorious movement tag attributed to the ANC is not hyperbolic – it is what the ANC proved itself to be, especially during those glorious days when the oldest liberation movement gave birth to its youth wing – now known as the ANC Youth League (ANCYL).
The year was 1944 – and no longer would the organisation adopt a docile posture towards the colonial oppressive politics of the day – the young people were ready to transform its mother body, put fire in its belly, with the likes of Anton Lembede, Nelson Mandela, Walter
Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Duma Nokwe, Lilian Ngoyi, among others, leading the struggle from the front, dictating to the mother body how the liberation struggle should be prosecuted, which would also include militant posture that had hitherto been missing.
The University of Fort Hare would be the hotbed of political resistance, also giving birth to the wonderful and courageous leadership of Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe – gifted with his oratory power and charismatic presence, giving life to the ANC, an organisation he would leave in 1959 to form the more militant Pan Africanist Congress of Azania.
In a word, the ANC would, through its youthful leadership, take a 180 degrees turn, forcing its hand on the mother body – a catalyst that would allow for a change in tactic, with the organisation adopting new political direction, thinking and behaviour on how to prosecute the liberation struggle.
Trained in philosophy and law, Lembede is regarded as the progenitor of the ANC’s Programme of Action, which came into existence in 1949. Under his leadership, and that of Mandela, Tambo and Sisulu, the ANC earned the appropriate moniker: “The glorious movement of the people”.
It is said the youth is the future, and correctly so. The ANC, for its continued existence, and its rich legacy, depends on the leadership of young people.
At the time of writing this leader, it was touch and go whether the elective conference would proceed without glitches. The authenticity of the audit was said to be in question, and so the branch nominations’ eligibility was in doubt.
But more troubling were claims pointing accusing fingers at some senior members of the mother body who allegedly were making it their business and duty to unjustly meddle in the affairs and electoral processes at the ANCYL conference.
If this were to be proven true, this should surely reflect poorly on the senior ANC members entrusted with the task of fairly supervising the conference events as they unfold.
Vested interests of senior political principals should count for nought in the affairs of the youth league. Surely, the young people can take their future into their own hands, obviously under the supervision of the mother body.
The country is watching. The country has vested interests in the outcome of the ANCYL elective conference. The national general elections take place in less than a year’s time. The ANC requires a vibrant youth league to help the mother body contest and win the elections.
Surely, the ANC, despite all its difficulties, should not lose sight of this reality.
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