ANC must elect dedicated and experienced leaders

WE must uphold the highest standards of integrity and organisational discipline as we march towards the ANC’s 54th national elective conference.

If we do not value ANC discipline, we are not living up to the spirit of those whose lives were dedicated to the achievement of our freedom.

In advancing the task of the current phase of the national democratic revolution, we must be mindful of the challenges that still loom large.

We need young people to take centre stage and be decisive.

As we pledge allegiance to our democracy and put in place the critical building blocks of the nation state envisaged in the Freedom Charter, we must jealously defend the gains of our revolution, and remain vigilant in the face of intense antagonism.

It must never elude us that forces of counter-revolution remain active, and are waiting in the wings for opportunities to pounce and destroy the ANC.

It is our task as the ANC branches and true members to obliterate these forces working collectively with the ANC Youth League leaders.

When obliterating these forces, we need first to eliminate those internal wolves (within the ANC).

Young people (aged 18 to 40) must lead the struggle for their emancipation and must never be spectators in the crafting of their future.

To become an ANC leader is not an entitlement, but entails responsibility.

It should not be an easy process attached merely to status.

It should be informed first and foremost by the desire, capacity and commitment to serve the people.

It’s a time to find a leader who will unite and guide the ANC to be at the head of the process for change.

As an ANC member in good standing and an activist, it’s my task to ensure that South Africa’s future is protected, so calling for a generational mix is ensuring a survival of the second layer of leaders.

As a revolutionary organisation, the ANC needs revolutionary cadres and leaders who are not using the ANC to sustain their self-interests and are not being remotely controlled. There are no ready-made leaders. Leaders evolve out of battles for social transformation.

It is therefore my clear call for 30% of the national executive committee to be youth aged 25 to 40 years.

This call is informed by the critical policy and programmatic issues that face us in each phase of struggle.

This stage can be characterised as one of a continuing transition and the beginnings of faster transformation.

Let’s celebrate 100 years since the birth of our icon and long-serving ANC president of the ANC and ANCYL founding member Tata Oliver Tambo by ensuring that we instill transformation in the ANC leadership, eliminate enemies of unity, and destroy gatekeeping, crippling ill-discipline and factionalism.

Cyril Ramaphosa was 39 when he was elected ANC secretary-general.

In 1985 while in prison, Tata Nelson Mandela wrote a letter to the Kabwe consultative conference in which he described unity in the ANC as the bedrock upon which the ANC was founded.

We need a unifier, not self-serving leaders.

Viwe Sidali, ANC member, Mzwanele Fazzie branch, former ANCYL regional executive committee member-Buffalo City M and activist, Duncan Village, East London