Sober leaders needed

IT IS disappointing that the first thing the new leadership of the ANCYL can think of is the right to get drunk. They are marching to a different drum beat. The rest of our youth and citizens are well aware of the destructive power of alcohol on families, individuals and society and its cost to the healthcare and judicial systems.

In any case from a self survival point of view the Youth League should be concerned about promoting this right because once the membership is hooked on it, it will want to exercise it all year round not just on Christmas Day. Their meetings will be less productive and probably more violent.

When the Youth League was formed in 1944 it envisaged a Youth League that “… must be the brains trust and the power station of the spirit of African nationalism” as its founding document states. You do not rise to these lofty goals by creating an organisation of drunks.

Obviously this particular venue has not lived up to the standards of safety society is entitled to. We cannot expect the city to tie up valuable police time during the busy season policing one area.

The metro’s stand is actually progressive and it joins a number of other cities the world over with booze-free beaches. If anybody who thinks the rapes and lawlessness that takes place at Ubuhlanti is some tourist attraction they need to have their heads examined.

When the new leadership of the ANCYL was announced we were hopeful that it would settle down to the business of playing a constructive role again in society. The right to get drunk is not what we had in mind. We