Channel ANCYL energy into ANC, says Lamola
JUSTICE and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola has said there should be a way of defining the autonomy of the ANC Youth League and channel its energy of new ideas into the governing party.
Lamola, a former deputy president of the ANCYL, said the league had always come up with ideas that were not immediately adopted as the ANC position, such as the armed struggle and expropriation of land without compensation.
“When we proposed a position in our time, some of them were not positions of the ANC, such as the expropriation of land without compensation. There will be times it (ANCYL) comes with policies that are not ANC policies at the time,” Lamola said.
He was speaking during the virtual Umrabulo roundtable discussion on the ANC national general council document on youth.
“The issue that needs to be resolved is how then you manage such issues when the Youth League comes up with new ideas. There is no way that it can come with a new idea which is already resolved as a policy at a particular point in time,” he said. “A functioning ANCYL will from time to time even come up with ridiculous ideas. There will be a need for that nexus of defining the autonomy and how you then channel that energy of new ideas to help infuse the direction of the ANC,” Lamola said.
The ANC had also made a mistake as it should at all times seek to guide but not use a sledgehammer approach among young people.
“The only way to bring new ideas and innovation is when you are free to think and express your view,” Lamola said.