By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
ANCYL President Collen Malatji has defended party Secretary General Fikile Mbalula after remarks he made about the veteran’s league and fallout with Mavuso Msimang who resigned from the ruling party.
Speaking during a media briefing at the Albert Luthuli House in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Malatji criticised Msimang’s attack on the ANC in his resignation letter.
“When you leave the ANC, [which] is a voluntary organisation, you don’t announce it [or throw] a party and call press briefings. Just don’t renew [your] membership and not participate, but when you are sent to damage they even give you media spaces to speak about why you are leaving the ANC,” he said.
He noted that people who are considered revolutionists “changed with time” after returning from exile and suggested that there were those “behaving like prefects in the ANC”.
“Anyone who leaves the ANC making noise, that person is leaving to join a program to remove the ANC out of power,” he continued.
Malatji reiterated that people were welcome to leave the ANC because “we are not here for individuals”.
He said, “Mbalula is a product of the congress movement. A well-trained leader, he is not a poet. The [secretary-general] of the ANC is trained to implement the resolution of the ANC.”
“He is a former [secretary-general] and president of the youth league. How do you say somebody who have been in the ANC for all of these years the bar has been lowered by electing him? As the youth league, we will defend the ANC with everything that we have.”
Mbalula had slammed ANC veterans for constantly criticising the ruling party just hours before Msimang’s resignation letter was made public.
He called on the veterans to stop “de-campaigning” the ANC and work through the organisation’s structures.
Malatji also slammed the Treasury for recently introducing budget cuts.
“The Treasury department must urgently act. If it fails to act, those responsible for that department must step aside and allow progressive people to take the country forward. We can’t sit back and watch the Treasury used as a tool to take the ANC out of power. We know some of them are not progressive and the decisions indicate they will never make any pro-poor programmes.”
He criticised the recent budget cuts announced for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
“We are clear as the youth league that we are fighting for free, compulsory university education. The ANCYL rejects the NSFAS budget cuts and urges the National Treasury to reprioritise budget cuts away from health and education.”