SUPPORTERS of ANC Youth League president Julius Malema were said to have won recent ANC Youth League regional conferences in the Eastern Cape because senior ANC regional leaders intervened.
Party sources said part of the reason for Malema’s convincing victories was because the nomination procedure for top district posts was changed from the usual secret ballot to a show of hands – under the watchful eyes of senior ANC leaders. Malema himself witnessed voting at the OR Tambo conference.
Malema’s supporters so far command support from three of the youth body’s regions – Amathole, OR Tambo and Cacadu . Andile Lungisa, Malema’s deputy who is tipped to challenge for the top position, has backing from the Nelson Mandela Metro, while Alfred Nzo, Chris Hani and Joe Gqabi regions have yet to decide .
The Dispatch learnt from reliable sources that senior leaders in both Amathole and OR Tambo regions helped to stem the challenge by Lungisa and his supporters .
The leaders attended and impressed on delegates the importance of emerging from the conference with a positive outcome for Malema.
Party sources said that apart from the critical voting change, regional leaders also told Malema supporters who were divided on candidate lists at the OR Tambo and Amathole conferences to agree to lists.
“The nominations were not informed by discussions among the young people over who they preferred as their leaders,” said a party insider.
The Malema faction in Amathole was divided on regional candidates while in OR Tambo there were differences on provincial candidate lists. A source said regional leaders told delegates from the faction to come up with one candidate list.
Regional secretaries from Amathole and OR Tambo denied they interfered in the internal processes of the league or that their leaders became involved. - By MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA
Senior Political Correspondent —
[email protected]
