It’s Nzimande’s fault – ANCYL
ANC YOUTH League leader Collen Maine has blamed Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande for the violence at universities.
Maine said Nzimande’s decision that universities may hike their fees by not more than 8 percent was flagrant disregard for an ANC national executive committee (NEC) resolution that there should be no fee increases for next year.
“It doesn’t matter whether you wear a cap of Cosatu, Fawu (Food and Allied Workers Union) or the SACP; the ANC took a decision that there must be no fee increases. It is the ANC that rules this government, not the SACP,” Maine said.
He was speaking yesterday at Luthuli House in Joburg after the NEC meeting in Pretoria on Friday and Saturday.
Maine’s comments were the latest in the verbal warfare between the ANCYL and the Young Communist League of SA, a conflict that underscores the rift between the two leagues’ mother bodies. Nzimande is the general secretary of the SACP and an ANC NEC member.
Blaming the #FeesMustFall protests squarely on Nzimande, Maine said the decision for free education was taken at the ANC’s Polokwane conference in 2007 and endorsed at the Mangaung conference in 2012.
Nzimande was not the only senior ANC official to be attacked. ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe was not spared, following his comments that universities should be shut down for as long as students continue with violent protests.
Maine said such comments were reckless for someone holding such a senior position.
According to him, the position of ANC secretary-general carried with it responsibilities that did not grant Mantashe the right to make statements denigrating calls for free tertiary education.
ANCYL deputy secretary Thandi Moraka said: “The ANCYL collective would firstly wish to send a strongest message of caution to all students against the ongoing burning of university property.
“The NEC reiterates its long-standing support for free education and wishes to plead with the commission of inquiry to fast-track its investigations into finding modalities for funding free education.
“The NEC wishes to caution against this mushrooming of celebrity wannabes who want to use this noble cause for their own selfish interests,” she said.
THE ANC Youth League has accused Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan of blocking economic opportunities for young people, while allegedly protecting his business interest in certain big businesses.
The league also launched an attack on Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, labelling her a CIA spy.
Ironically, a similar claim against Madonsela was made a while back by Deputy Defence and Military Veterans Minister Kebby Maphatsoe.
While Maphatsoe had failed to substantiate his claim and had since retracted his comments, ANCYL president Collen Maine insists that Madonsela was a CIA spy.
“She never refuted those allegations. So her handlers are the CIA and monopoly capital,” Maine said, speaking yesterday in Luthuli House after the conclusion of the league’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Saturday.
The ANCYL also joined the fray on the stand-off between Gordhan and the Hawks. The league accused the minister of “trying to be Jesus Christ” for his refusal to present himself to the Hawks.
Earlier, ANCYL deputy secretary Thandi Moraka urged Gordhan to co-operate with the Hawks, who are investigating him for his alleged involvement in the SA Revenue Service “rogue unit”.
“We want to reaffirm our call that if there is anything that Pravin did wrong, it must never be taken into public discourse, but rather the matter be handled between the parties concerned.
“We equally call on Pravin not to fall into the trap of wanting to be the Jesus Christ of our times, claiming that in the entire movement, he is the only one committed to fighting corruption,” she said.
“Pravin must stop using this matter to seek public sympathy and projecting himself as a victim in the public eye.
“His business interests versus his current position of responsibility also seem to, of late, surface as a hindrance in our quest for economic freedom.
“And, therefore, any hindrance or hiccup of these noble calls becomes an enemy.”
The youth league also poured cold water on Madonsela’s pending report on state capture, saying it was their wish that her investigations should not focus on the Guptas but all organs of state, including the judiciary.
“The investigation itself and the rate at which this investigation is been conducted calls for concern.
“Be that as it may, the NEC is equally perplexed as to what exactly this Madonsela investigation is, given the fact that the state is characterised in three spheres – judiciary, legislature and executive.
“The investigation, however, seems to have focused on the executive only. The question posed now is: Is Madonsela going to investigate the likes of the judiciary and Parliament in the process?
“We, therefore, demand answers from the public protector and appeal to her not to use our own institutions to please her alleged handlers,” Moraka said.
The youth league claimed Gordhan had an ulterior motive when he allegedly made funds available to Madonsela to investigate state capture.
“Recently, her office indicated that it ran out of funds to process outstanding cases. Surprisingly, the Treasury has now found money,” she added.
‘Pravin mustn’t think he’s the Jesus Christ of our times’