74th ‘factional’ birthday celebration is criticised

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74th 'factional' birthday celebration is criticised
FACTION: Provincial secretary Pholoso Mbatsane and national treasurer Reggie Nkabinde during the ANCYL's 74th birthday celebration at the Sydney Choma community hall. PICTURE BY 013NEWS/ZK.

They say the celebration ‘sidelined’ other leaders of the league.


A 74th celebration of the ANCYL over the weekend in Mpumalanga has been branded the most ‘factional’ youth league gathering members have ever seen.

A group calling itself ‘Progressive Revolutionaries’ and which boasts 80% of “legitimate Nkangala branches” said they were sick and tired of their leaders running the organisation in a “factional way” and not opening it up to everybody.

Spokesman of the Nkangala group Mfundo Masombuka said they are not a lobby group but “are branches of the youth league who have organised themselves as progressives to fight the killing of our movement”.

He said they were angered when they found that the birthday celebration was going to be without ANC deputy president DD Mabuza and league leader Collen Maine.

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“That was factionalised and was not the celebration of the ANCYL for every member of the ANCYL. It was a certain faction advertising itself and not there to celebrate 74 years of the birth of the movement.

“Our President was sidelined,” Masomuka said over the phone.

“Even comrade DD didn’t come while the posters said he would come,” he said.

He said the ‘progressive’ Nkangala group has a strong base in the sub-regions of JS Moroka, Victor Khanye, Thembisile Hani and eMakhazeni and they want Bheki Sithole to be the provincial secretary.

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When asked whether so far had they managed to convince branches of their preferred candidates, Masombuka said there are currently no BGMs taking place in the area and this was “a deliberate delay tactic” done by the regional leadership to frustrate branches.

“We also want Trevor Nkosi to be the provincial chairperson and both Sipho Mahlangu and Tshepo Seema to form part of leadership,” Masomuka said.

Mfundo Masombuka.

He said they also want Ndumiso Mokako to be President and KZN secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo to be secretary general.

Regional spokesman Banele ‘Masheleni’ Nkosi said it was good for people to have different views “on different things” but not to lie.

He said Nkangala BGMs will begin once the audit report has been received from national secretary Njabulo Nzuza.

“Well I know that the ‘progressive’ group is saying we are doing delay tactics. No. We are still waiting for the report of the SG and those are processes of the organisation, they can never be delayed. They can never be short-cutted by anyone,” Nkosi said.

He said that what was worrying about the ‘progressive group’ was that “most of them are not even members of the branches”.

“Or maybe they are talking on behalf of those in branches, we don’t know,” Nkosi said.

He asked that members should be patient while they await the audit report to begin BGMs.

(edited by ZK)

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