ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula addressed the last day of the ANCYL national congress on Wednesday.
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Fikile Mbalula warned against allowing United States President Donald Trump to isolate South Africa from the rest of the African continent.He urged African countries to stand with South Africa and fight collectively for an African Renaissance rooted in intra-African trade.Mbalula praised the ANCYL for a peaceful,self-run congress and called on its leaders to resist corruption and drive renewal in the ANC.ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has urged South Africa not to allow United States President Donald Trump to isolate the country from the rest of the continent.
Mbalula also encouraged African countries to stand with South Africa in resisting Trump instead of leaving it to “fight” alone.
Addressing delegates on the final day of the 27th ANC Youth League (ANCYL) national congress at the University of Limpopo in Polokwane,Mbalula emphasised the importance of the African Renaissance as a pivotal task for the league.
He emphasised that the African Renaissance is deeply intertwined with African trade,urging young people to vigorously champion and defend African trade agreements.
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“African countries must trade among themselves. Africa must stop being beggars of others,” Mbalula said. “If we are so powerful,we will not be a walkover [for] the United States.”
He added:
South Africa must not fight alone. It must fight with the rest of the African continent. It must never accept to be isolated from the rest of the African continent.
“We must not allow Donald Trump to isolate us from the African continent. We must fight as the African continent for our own African Renaissance.”
Mbalula extended his congratulations to the ANCYL for successfully hosting the congress without assistance from the mother body,especially amid doubts about its capability to do so. He asserted that this achievement demonstrated the league’s maturity as an organ of the ANC.
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Furthermore,he commended the league for smoothly electing its leadership without any contestation,an aspect he said the ANC could learn from.
“Comrades,we wish you well,and we’re very happy about this congress. It was a peaceful congress,not characterised by pettiness or factionalism,as we walk the path of renewal.
“The path of renewal and ridding the ANC of factionalism and petty tendencies,” he said.
Mbalula urged youth league members to respect their elected leadership and remain accountable,warning against corruption and self-serving behaviour.
READ | ‘ANC has been hijacked to look corrupt’: ANCYL deputy urges youth to fight back
“Protect your organisation from the parasites of corruption and self-interest. Your integrity is non-negotiable. The youth league must never be an organisation of another leader or another member. It must be an organ of the African National Congress. You must breathe life into the African National Congress,you must stand for your views,” said Mbalula.
He encouraged the ANCYL to voice its opinions boldly,describing its members as a force meant to challenge and shape the ANC’s progression.
“And that’s what we expect from the youth. If we,in the ANC,move more slowly,you must make us move fast. That is your role as the youth,” he said,adding that they must continue to imbue the politics of the ANC with radicalism.
However,he advised against confusing militancy with being rascals.
“You must never fear speaking out,but always do so from a correct disposition. You’re militants,not rascals; radicals,not rabble-rousers. That’s what we expect from the youth,” he said.
He said league members have the privilege of being young,unlike the party’s older members,who are driven by fear.
“As we grow older,now you start to think,‘I’ve got kids,I’ve got a wife’. You don’t think about kids and wives,you think about the future. And you must always say,‘We are the future,and no one can stop us’.
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“Even when the ANC is going astray,it is the youth league of (Collen) Malatji that must intervene and say,‘This revolution is being sold out’,we will listen to you,we will engage with you,” he said.
READ | Malatji retains ANCYL presidency unopposed amid delayed congress proceedings
Continuing with his reflections on the life stage differences between young and older members,Mbalula said: “As we grow older,fear drives us; we think of our kids and spouses. But as young people,your focus is on the future. No one can stop you. Even when the ANC veers off course,it is the youth league that must intervene,” he said.
He concluded by aligning with ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa’s opening speech,reiterating that the ANCYL is critical for the party’s revival and future electoral victory.
Mbalula said:
We are not in this congress to accept that the African National Congress is done and dusted. The ANC will come back,comrades.
“It will come back through its ANC Youth League,and comrade Malatji and his generation will carry that torch to the finishing line.”
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