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ANCYL contenders reach early consensus on who should lead

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Thanduxolo Sabelo
Thanduxolo Sabelo

With just one month to go before the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) elective conference, contenders have reached an early consensus around who could lead the organisation next.

The secretary of the ANCYL in KwaZulu-Natal, Thanduxolo Sabelo, and former Sasco president Ndumiso Mokako have been in talks and are in the process of brokering a deal which will see them on the same slate, though it is still not clear who will occupy which position.

City Press has heard that the likelihood is that Sabelo will go for the top job while Mokako will come in for the position of secretary-general.

Initially both men were gunning for the position of president.

They both confirmed that there have been ongoing engagements and an agreement in principle around the kind of leadership they wanted to emerge from the conference, set down for September 6 to 11.

Other names which have been touted for the same slate include Tsileng Sobuthongo of the Eastern Cape and Joy Maimela from Limpopo.

Current treasurer-general Reggie Nkabinde is also forging ahead with his bid for the top job, with talks that his slate could include National Youth Development Agency chairperson Sifiso Mtsweni, who is looking to secure the position of deputy president.

Other names which may make the cut on Nkabinde’s slate include Reagan Booysen from the Free State as secretary-general, Pholoso Mbatsane of Mpumalanga as deputy secretary-general and Fikile Masiko from KwaZulu-Natal as treasurer-general.

This slate is also still to be finalised.

Nkabinde’s lobbyists say they are not deterred by the realignment between Mokako and Sabelo, claiming that they had more provinces backing them than the two combined.

KwaZulu-Natal was the first province to come out and announce Sabelo for the presidency. The official nomination process is still to get under way.

A bid to have the conference take place earlier this year failed, with the current leaders insisting that their mandate only expires in September.

While the date has now been officially set, there are some concerns that the conference could run into some procedural hurdles, delaying it.

Members of the national executive committee (NEC) told City Press that the conference urgently needed to take place for the organisation to get its house in order ahead of next year’s general elections.

“We will even look at going to court if this thing gets delayed, because we can’t afford to carry around the dead weight that is the current leadership any longer,” one NEC member said.

The term of the current leadership led by president Collen Maine has been characterised by bitter divisions in the top six.

It came to a head earlier this year with deputy secretary-general Thandi Moraka calling for Maine to resign.

This week the ANCYL found itself in hot water with a court judgment liquidating the organisation over the failure of former leaders Floyd Shivambu and Julius Malema (now occupying the presidency of the Economic Freedom Fighters) to pay former DA leader Helen Zille for defaming her.

“The judgment comes after the reckless de­famation case the Premier of Western Cap­e, Ms Hellen Zille, instituted against its former leaders, Mr Julius Malema, Mr Floyd Shivambu and Mr Andile Lili in 2010. Both parties made a private arrangement to settle the matter outside court. However, Mr Malema and co failed to [honour] the arrangement by paying legal fees as agreed,” the youth league statement read.

The organisation insists that there is no financial crisis and says its lawyers will be attending to the Zille matter.

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