ANC mends rifts ahead of student polls
THE TURF war between ANC’s students’ organisation Sasco and youth league at Fort Hare University in Alice and East London campuses has forced the ANC to intervene.
A delegation led by an ANC provincial leader Mlibo Qoboshiyane and youth league provincial task team leader Mziwonke Ndabeni went to the Alice campus late on Monday to avert a showdown between the two as they both fielded candidates to contest tod students’ representative council elections.
Qoboshiyane confirmed the visit, saying he was there as head of the ANC election team in the province and they had convinced all progressive youth alliance structures to rally behind Sasco at the SRC polls.
The delegation then moved to the East London campus yesterday where they held similar meetings between Sasco, ANCYL as well as the South African Young Communist League leaders.
“The ANCYL has communicated with its structures at the university that elections will be Sasco-led and all other Progressive Youth Alliance partners will rally for the success of Sasco,” said Qoboshiyane.
PYA is an alliance between the ANCYL, the Young Communist League, Congress of South African Students (Cosas) and Sasco.
Sasco has been losing SRC elections at Fort Hare’s Alice campus to the Democratic Alliance Students Organisation (Daso) since 2015, while Sasco has been in control of the East London.
But that dominance was going to be tested today, as three of the outgoing SRC leaders at the campus were now going to contest under the ANCYL.
Tensions increased last week when Sasco decided to remove all three from the SRC.
These were East London campus SRC premier Sonwabiso Mamkeli, general secretary Ntokozo Ntseto and deputy secretary Dineo Selemela.
The three were accused of sabotaging Sasco’s campaign to advance their own interests as ANCYL members, the Dispatch reported last week.
But Mamkeli denied the allegations of sabotaging Sasco as just “lies”.
The tensions within the ANC’s allies on campuses come at the worst time as the party battles to iron out differences from within following President Jacob Zuma’s decision to fire former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas against the will of three senior ANC officials.
Following last Friday’s anti-Zuma protest march, yet another major shutdown is expected today as opposition parties such as the DA, Economic Freedom Fighters, United Democratic Movement as well as Inkatha Freedom Party are expected to also march.
ANC provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane said they had called on Sasco and ANCYL at Fort Hare to rise above petty issues and campaign for the Sasco-led PYA.
“We want all structures on campuses to work with Sasco,” said Mabuyane.