The provincial executive committee (PEC) of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in Gauteng has chosen KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo as its preferred candidate for league president to lead the organisation into the 2019 elections.
The youth league, which is now a shadow of its former self, often played the critical role of driving young people towards the ANC. It will face a similar task in the lead-up to 2019, with the added pressure of competing against the likes of the EFF and DA, which have had young people not only joining up but moving quickly up the ranks of the parties.
The Gauteng ANCYL PEC, which met on Wednesday, discussed the province's state of readiness, the upcoming elections and the league's national conference, which is set to take place in December.
League spokesperson Mbali Hlope said the PEC took a "holistic" look at its organisation and was "frank" about its weaknesses.
She said Gauteng was one of the youth league's strongest provinces when it was disbanded following the expulsion of its former president, Julius Malema, who is now the leader of the EFF.
Hlope said many believed Sabelo had the ability to revive the organisation.
'Mcebo Dlamini not a factor'
"In KZN, that's where the organisation is actually existing, not in other provinces, not even at national [level]. But in KZN we can say confidently that there have been, in this period of a lull, programmes, activism that's in place," said Hlope.
She said the league in KwaZulu-Natal was also able to articulate its own views on issues affecting the youth and events in the country, a practice for which she praised Sabelo for leading.
Hlope said this was also the reason why he deserved to take over from outgoing league president Collen Maine.
Outgoing ANCYL treasurer Reggie Nkabinde and Mcebo Dlamini, who is a former University of Witwatersrand SRC president and one of the leaders of the Fees Must Fall movement, have also made themselves available for the role.
Hlope said Dlamini was not necessarily a factor as he had no real footprint in the ANCYL, while the other two had been given responsibilities which allowed for league members to compare them.
"Having looked at how the two have performed in the organisation it's easier and we can comfortably say this one can be entrusted with greater responsibility," said Hlope of Sabelo.
Provincial secretary suspended
Hlope said the league also decided to "unanimously" put its provincial secretary Bones Modise on suspension, partly blaming his office for the dismal state of the organisation in Gauteng.
"The greatest weakness of the structure has been the secretariat. Bones was supposed to be a full-time official, gets paid to be full-time but this has not been the case. The failure of the secretariat not being full-time has affected the structure terribly," observed Hlope.
The provincial league spokesperson said some branches and regions also raised concerns over Modise's handling of processes leading up to the national conference.
"Reports from regions indicated to us that their biggest problem has been the office of the provincial secretary and secretary general, with files missing. Branches can't sit for branch general meetings because of missing data. There has been what they call almost sabotage," said Hlope.
She said the PEC had resolved to write a letter of complaint to the national task team appointed by the league's mother body to investigate the claims.
"It is also coming to our realisation that we are not the only province suffering from this. Other provinces have complained that their files had been taken away, hampering their branches from sitting and preparing for conference," she claimed.