Western Cape ANC Youth League leaders will be called to explain why the league failed to hold its elective conference.
|||Western Cape ANC Youth League leaders will be summoned to the party’s provincial headquarters this week to explain why the league failed to hold its elective conference for a second time at the weekend.
ANC provincial secretary Songezo Mjongile said the party’s provincial executive committee (PEC) expected a “full explanation”, while Western Cape ANC chairman and Deputy International Relations Minister, Marius Fransman, said the provincial leadership would be “forced to intervene” if the league failed to elect a new leader.
The provincial youth league was set to elect its chairman on Friday night, after a failed elective conference in December. But proceedings again failed to start, as organisers scrambled to secure a quorum for the conference. The league needed 338 delegates for the conference to go ahead, but only 280 had registered.
The two main contenders for the top post are Jonton Snyman and Luvo Makasi. But the race turned nasty on Saturday, when Snyman’s supporters accused Fransman of conducting a smear campaign against their candidate, who is loyal to Julius Malema, saying he was openly lobbying for Makasi to win.
On Sunday, Snyman said: “We know what’s happening behind the scenes. ANC provincial leaders want their candidate to emerge, but they should not be interfering.”
Snyman said PEC leaders, including Fransman, were working against the very league members who put them in control of the ANC in the Western Cape last February.
But Fransman hit back, rubbishing claims that he was backing a particular candidate.
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This is completely unacceptable,” Fransman said. “They shouldn’t bring national politics into this. The youth league should focus on the real issues – firstly of electing their leadership, and then on issues affecting the youth.”
Fransman said the provincial leadership would be forced to intervene should a third attempt to elect a new executive fail.
“The next attempt would be the final straw. We’ll be forced to intervene if they can’t decide.”
Asked how provincial leaders would intervene, Fransman said: “The PEC will have to decide when we meet.”
The provincial youth league has been run by an interim task team headed by Senzeni Mphila, a City of Cape Town PR councillor, since the ANCYL NEC disbanded the provincial executive in 2010.
The task team leadership is expected to brief the party’s PEC this week, said Mjongile.
clayton.barnes@inl.co.za
Cape Argus
