
The league faced one of the most difficult times – with the regional executive committee divided into two groups.
Fighting leaders of the ANCYL in the Nkangala region of Mpumalanga have now “put aside” their differences for the unity of chair Bobo Mtshweni and his rival secretary Thabang Mathebula.
This is according to Mathebula. He said the ANC intervened and the league in the region “resolved” to “find workable solutions” to their differences.
He said their suspensions have also been set aside.
Mathebula said they had established that congress was dividing them and had resolved to handle it in a manner that doesn’t divide them now.
He said they are coming from a difficult time of “factional tensions”.
“Then soon afterwards the ANC in the region intervened and took a view, a view that said they would lobby the ANC PEC to speak to the PEC of the ANCYL to lift the suspensions,” Mathebula said the past Sunday (10 Feb) when he spoke to 013NEWS.
He said the ANC saw that the suspensions “were not good for the ANCYL in the region”.
“But ourselves as leaders of the league we did have our own engagements on the matters that divide us together with the chairperson. We have asked ourselves ‘What is it exactly that divides us?’ If it’s congress we agreed and said, ‘let us not allow this congress to divide us’,” he said.
He said a January 2019 meeting between officials of the ANC and ANCYL in the region decided they “don’t have a choice but to unite for the sake of the ANCYL and young people”.
“So that is where we resolved all issues and we had called a regional working committee of the league last week as an REC and we discussed programmes of actions. So from where I’m sitting now I can tell you that the ANCYL in Nkangala is united,” he said.
Both Mathebula and Mtshweni were suspended late last year by their movement in their positions of secretary and chairpersons respectively.
Mathebula was suspended over a behaviour that was received with “deep regret” by the ANCYL PEC, according to a statement the league released last year. It was apparently a social media post lashing provincial leader Tim Mashele to be “clear” on which side he stands as they were preparing for congress.
It is still not quite clear why Mtshweni was suspended but he himself said it was over a meeting he attended with league PEC officials in which they planned to communicate the decision of Mathebula being placed on suspension.
This meeting was viewed as “factional” and allegedly running against a planned ANCYL programme or meeting in the region on that day.
Mtshweni is aligned to the Thanduxolo Sabela grouping that wants Trevor Nkosi as provincial leader.
Last year Mtshweni publicly campaigned for Mokako and Nkosi against an REC decision that resolved to support Mathebula as provincial leader and Pholoso Mbatsane as secretary.
The two were elected during a regional congress in May 2018.
Mathebula said they will no longer allow congresses to divide them and are focusing attention on the upcoming general elections.
ANC regional spokesman Sello Matshoga said it was their responsibility as the mother body to ensure “that the ANCYL operates within the constitution of the ANC and if there is disunity in the ANCYL it doesn’t assist the ANC”.
“We have called both chairperson and secretary. We engaged. We all agreed. They have put everything aside. After the processes we were then able to convene a first REC of the ANCYL last week and that REC meeting was successful. And we have resolved that we are going to call the sub-regional meetings of the ANCYL,” Matshoga said.
(edited by ZK)
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