‘Abusing the plight of the poor’
THE YOUNG Communist League of SA (YCLSA) has bashed the ANC’s two contending factions, accusing them of not representing the interests of ordinary South Africans.
Speaking after the YCL’s national committee meeting at the weekend, national secretary Tinyiko Ntini lambasted the faction which identifies itself as forces of radical economic transformation (RET) for what he termed abusing the plight of the poor through populism.
“Obviously there are challenges facing the working class and workers, with genuine working-class issues that some forces immediately thrive on and want to appear as the architects of the policies of the organisation or present themselves as the ones that are ready to implement resolutions of the movement.”
Ntini noted that those who tried to appear radical had been responsible for looting the coffers of the state and its institutions.
“These are the same forces that collapsed our state-owned entities. Our state of local government is where it is because of them,” he said.
He slammed what he called the “sophisticated” forces which he said continued to produce neoliberal policies in the government, undermining the ANC’s policy positions.
“The reality is that both these cliques do not have the interests of the working class at heart. The policies that the current administration are pursuing are not pro-poor. This neoliberal agenda seeks to even reverse some of the gains that were made. But these other pseudo-left forces thrive on these opportunistic elements and become populist when they do not mean what they say,” Ntini said.
He also said the ANC’s neoliberal faction in government sought to be seen as progressive under the narrative of fighting corruption and fixing the economy at the expense of the working class, as it elevated the class interests of “domestic monopoly capital”.
He highlighted that the embattled ANC Youth League (ANCYL) had turned itself into the mouthpiece of ANC factions instead of advancing the interests of young people.
Ntini said this was likely to continue even after the ANCYL finally held its national elective conference in May, as young people had been sidelined from the process of rebuilding structures and preparing for the conference.
He slammed the ANC national executive committee’s decision to appoint its own members on the ANC National Youth Task Team (ANC NYTT) to run the affairs of the ANCYL after its national structure was disbanded last year. “If they allowed the youth to determine its own leadership – without the elders or senior leadership in the movement wanting to direct the outcomes of this youth formation – we would probably get a better youth voice that society really needs,” Ntini said.
YCL national chairperson Mabuse Mpe said it was difficult for the YCL leadership to relate and have a working relationship with the ANCYL as part of the Progressive Youth Alliance.
“Imagine you are speaking to an old person of the ANC NEC. The ANCYL needs young people who have energy, not some conflicted old people. The ANC must listen to us as a PYA component,” Mpe said.