The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) TUT Soshanguve campus branch has broke away from the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) after a fierce leadership battle.
The PYA, which comprises the Young Communists League (YCL), South African Student Congress (SASCO) and the ANCYL, is the equivalent of the tripartite alliance. The YCL and ANCYL are supposed to mobilise students to vote for SASCO during the Student Representative Council (SRC) elections.
In 2009, the PYA adopted a policy of rotating leadership every year to create equality in the alliance and that both the YCL and ANCYL would be under the umbrella of SASCO.
However, the Youth League felt marginalised and accused SASCO of ruling with an iron fist as it only deploys its members to strategic positions.
“SASCO imposes leadership. It does not allow students to vote for the people they want. Comrades of the ANCYL do not find space in governance as SASCO only elects its members,” said ANCYL branch chairperson Sipho Njokweni.
Njokweni said the ANCYL’s reason to leave the PYA was because of SASCO’s constant debates of leadership succession in taverns.
“If you are a leader, you must lead by example. SASCO discusses leadership in shebeens and we are not invited in the discussions as the ANCYL.
According to a 2009 PYA report, the ANCYL’s role in an institution of higher learning is to mobilise students for SASCO but Njokweni claimed that the PYA, which consists of three structures, is beaten by one structure-PASMA-during SRC elections because SASCO executive has dented the PYA’s image as they come to meetings intoxicated and then insult members as a result.
However, SASCO refuted these claims and launched a scathing attack on the executive council of the ANCYL.
Chairperson, Sipho Mbatha, said in a statement: “SASCO would like to categorically dismiss the group of clowns who are using the name of our good ally, the ANCYL, to discredit SASCO.”
Mbatha lambasted some people in the Youth League whom he believes caused the break-up because they want to be deployed to the SRC.
“These are the people who have been contesting leadership in SASCO and lost because members of SASCO do not make mistakes of electing people without leadership qualities.”
He further said: “SASCO is going to combat, expose and defeat this tendency which seeks to divert the PYA from its historical mission.”
Mbatha alluded that the ANCYL has no capacity to contest elections in an institution of higher learning as it deals with issues concerning the youth and not students.
The YCL, which has stood firm behind SASCO, echoed Mbatha’s sentiments.
Chairman Freddy Khoza said: “The Branch Executive Council (BEC) in the ANCYL does not understand the principles of the existence of the ANCYL on the campus.”
Khoza claimed that power mongering is the root cause of the split.
“The reason that led to the ANCYL to break-away from the PYA is because they lost in the Branch General Meeting (BGM) of SASCO. This (sudden rivalry) between SASCO and the ANCYL is a power mongering feature.”
SASCO commended the YCL for throwing its weight behind the PYA.
The ANCYL contested in the October 10 SRC elections and won 613 votes for the local SRC, better than SASCO’s 553 while it also managed to surpass both SASCO and PASMA in the Central SRC.
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