By: Qeko At a recent ANC Youth League Lekgotla which took place at St George Conference in Tshwane, the League structures spoke with one voice that Julius Malema and all those suspended by the mother body, the ANC National Disciplinary Committee, will not resign their position but that they will stay on until the 25th ANC Youth League’s National Congress which will take place in 2014. The Youth League’s delegates to this important meeting included leaders from the region, province and national executive committees across South Africa. The ANC Youth League’s position on this matter means that in as much as the ANC National Disciplinary Committee passed the judgment against Malema and the other leaders, they remain the in their respective offices until 2014. This also means that the ANC youth League recognizes the significance of the power that is invested in the grass-root and that any decision about their leadership need to go through the structures.
However the tricky part is that ANC Youth League President Julius Malema, his spokesperson, Floyd Shivambu, the Vice President, Ronald Lamola, Treasure General, Pule Mabe, Secretary General Sindiso Magaga and the League’s deputy Secretary General Kenetswe Mosenogi, were suspended not by the ANC Youth League structures across the country but by the mother body, the ANC National Disciplinary Committee. The suspension process itself has been questioned by many as to whether the democratic process was followed with due respect to the involvement of the grass-root the structures, who voted these into office.
In their communiqué, the ANC Youth League clearly states that the leadership of the Youth League as elected by the 24th National Congress of the ANC Youth League will never be removed by any process that does not include the structures and membership of the ANC Youth League. The communiqué further states that internal process of the ANC Youth League can decide to elect or un-elect leadership of the ANC Youth League. The League voiced out that as far as it is concern, it will never agree that its leadership be subjected to unfair and unjust treatment or banishment for narrow political purposes. Now this stand taken by the league raised debate regarding who has the power to suspend a democratically elected leader? Is the power with the structures nationwide? Is it a Special Committee put in place by the party? Where does the power reside actually?
In a democracy the people are given the power to vote somebody into office and it is expected that the same method that is used to put one into office be used to remove him/her. It becomes conflicting when those who put someone into office through democratic means are sidelined and instead the power to remove one’s from office is done by a small group unlike the majority that voted. This is where the point of conflict many times is. Like the ANC Youth League, the structures across the country voted in Malema and his cabinet to take care of the League programs. However the point of conflict has been that the removal of Malema did not involve the structures that voted him into office. This automatically questions the democratic process itself because the argument that many have raise is why should the structures only vote and have their candidates removed by a different small group of people. Why did the mother body not involve the voters through any form of democratic means even the referendum? Now that the ANC Youth League has taken this stand, many political analysts are yet to see what next step the mother body will take in response to the league.
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