Some ANC leader leaders associate with imperialist controlled parties like MDC: ANCYL

A defiant ANC Youth League has dug in its heels over establishing a Botswana "command team" to unite opposition parties there, and has unleashed a stinging attack on ANC national spokesman Jackson Mthembu. The ANC Youth League hit out at ANC leaders who associate with "imperialist controlled political parties like MDC in Zimbabwe" while expressing its "disappointment" at the public rebuke it received from Mthembu.

Thumbing its nose at the ANC after the mother body said the youth league's plan was effectively a call for regime change and had crossed the political line, the league was adamant on Tuesday that it had not violated any policy boundaries.

The league on Tuesday expressed its disappointment in Mthembu and "emphatically" disagreed with his public criticism of its Botswana resolution before exhausting internal channels.

"The ANC Youth League does not believe that our position on Botswana is inconsistent with ANC policy outlook… If there is anything inconsistent with ANC policy directives, it is leaders of the ANC who associate with imperialist-controlled political parties like the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Zimbabwe and the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in Botswana. The ANCYL is concerned that strange ideological trends and political relations are being established for convenience," said ANCYL spokesman Floyd Shivambu.

He added: "That is why in Polokwane, the ANC 52nd National Conference resolved that, 'Party-to-party relations amongst former liberation movements like SWAPO, MPLA, FRELIMO, ZANU PF, PAIGC, CCM, SPLM/A, etc, must be prioritised by the ANC and meetings and structured support of the former liberation movements in the region must be pursued.'

"The Conference further resolved that 'a deliberate effort be made to strengthen relations with all progressive and like-minded parties in the region, continent and the world'.

"The 3rd National General Council of the ANC said that 'the ANC continues to be the strategic centre of power, the leader of the Alliance, a disciplined force of the left, and a mass movement with an internationalist and an anti-imperialist outlook'."

The league's national executive committee resolution on Botswana stood.

The league also slapped down Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba, who on Monday spoke out against the "reckless debate" on nationalisation.

"The ANCYL is relieved that at last, Mr Gigaba, who never held a political view on any issue before, now has courage to speak out about the nationalisation of mines, although with the wrong approach, vigour and very wrong information," it said, adding that as one of its former presidents, Gigaba had "a responsibility and obligation at all times robustly to engage with the youth league, and avoid throwing insults and undermining processes".

Although Independent Newspapers was told on Monday the public rebuke issued by Mthembu had "the sanction of the top leadership" – which would include President Jacob Zuma and secretary-general Gwede Mantashe – Shivambu said the youth league believed otherwise.

"If the top officials wanted to raise an issue with us, they would call us to convene a meeting. We are in the same building," Shivambu said, adding the ANC statement had been signed off by Mthembu, not Mantashe who, if he wanted to, signed off on party statements.

Meanwhile, the ANCYL's proposed Botswana command team has been welcomed by that country's opposition, although the BDP has said it would raise the matter directly with the ANC, not in the media.

The ANC's rebuke of the youth league was front-page news in at least two daily newspapers on Tuesday, and featured in radio news.

Ditiro Motlhabane, news editor at the Botswana Guardian and Midweek Sun, told Independent Newspapers the matter was still a hot topic.

"It's an issue. People are talking about it… on local radio stations, on Facebook," he said.