ANC youth league leaders' feud ends in public apology and call for unity

ANC Secretary General, Fikile Mbalula, has welcomed the public apology made by ANC Youth League Secretary General, Mntuwoxolo Ngudle, following a back-and-forth suspension letters between Ngudle and his youth league president, Collen Malatji.

Mbalula called on the young lions of the ANC to stop bickering and focus on the task at hand, which, he said, is to make the youth league a breeding ground for future leaders.

According to media reports, things came to a head when, on Thursday night, a letter penned by Ngudle communicated a decision to suspend Malatji, accusing him of convening a parallel meeting of the league and “misleading structures on the role of the president.

In this explosive letter, Ngudle alleges that Malatji “facilitated the exclusion of the secretary-general and treasurer-general in the preparations for the 27th national congress as mandated by the national general council [NGC]”.

However, in true retaliatory fashion, Malatjie subsequently suspended Ngudle, causing the entire ANC leadership, including former ANC leaders, to step in and save the youth league from further embarrassment.

This comes as the youth structure is preparing for its national conference set to take place from 14 to 17 December in Limpopo, while the party’s NGC takes place from 8 to 12 December at Nasrec in Soweto.

Media reports have suggested that there have been two different invitations to a meeting of the structure that were released to national executive committee members, one from Malatji and another from Ngudle.

However, reacting to the current situation, Mbalula stated:” The task at hand demands unity of purpose to fulfil our historical mission. The young lions of Peter Mokaba must be focused on their twin tasks. I thank the SG of the ANCYL for showing revolutionary discipline and maturity in uniting the ANCYL.”

In a new letter to the senior leaders of the party, Ngudle apologises for his decision to suspend his president, saying,” I wish to publicly apologise for the letter to suspend the President of the ANCYL, Comrade Collen Malatji. I profusely apologise to the collective I lead with, the entire membership of the ANCYL, and the entire former leaders, who called with concern, and the ANC, for any damage caused.”

In his letter to Malatji, Ngudle had accused Malatji of sowing divisions within the structure, after the youth league leader had allegedly released pre-conference packages, resulting in the young SG calling for these packages to be retrieved as they had been given out without authority.

“The president creates division within its ranks, impedes its proper functioning, and commits other acts calculated to undermine the effectiveness of the organisation.”