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Book chronicles ANCYL’s fall from prominence

17 May 2021 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied

Rebone-Tau_web read more — Rebone Tau’s new book, The Rise and Fall of the ANC Youth League, provides an account of the inner doings and destruction of a once dominant youth movement.

It is not an explosive book with damning revelations, but The Rise and Fall of the ANC Youth League by Rebone Tau, a former member of the ANC Youth League's National Task Team, provides an insider perspective on this once dominant youth movement.

The University of the Free State (UFS), together with the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southern Africa, hosted a discussion with Prof Chitja Twala, Vice-Dean: Faculty of the Humanities, on 10 May 2021. The book launch coincided with UFS Africa Month commemorations.

The publication of the book falls within a period in which the African National Congress (ANC) finds itself in the midst of ongoing leadership controversy. Prof Twala, an expert on liberation movements in Africa, said that the book is in essence a historical account of the ANCYL. “It is important that it comes now as the ANC is in a deep leadership crisis,” he said. Prof Hussein Solomon, Academic Head of the Department of Political Studies and Governance, also praised the publication of the book, saying that “there is much talk about decolonisation, and it is important to have young black writers like Rebone Tau to further the decolonisation agenda”.

Factionalism left Youth League in ruins

“The Youth League chose to support Zuma during his arms deal and corruption court proceedings. Zuma was implicated in the arms deal and other corruption charges at the time. A new culture emerged after the Mangaung Congress in 2012. “It was around this time that the opulence in the Youth League started surfacing – the branded clothing and sports cars,” Tau said.

In 2019, the Youth League was dissolved because it failed to fulfil its role. Tau points out that the Youth League became more focused on internal factionalism and the materialism of the leadership caused it to fall out of favour with the youth. “The current Youth League has no structure, it has no mandate, and basically no agenda,” Tau said.

For the ANCYL, it is a case of still clinging to its former self in the hope of reviving itself. This book is appreciated as it provides an account that is not publicly available. Tau’s final remarks were ؘ– “for the ANC to survive, it needs the Youth League.”

Glorious history of ANCYL

The book looks at the founding of the ANCYL, formed in 1949, and chronicles the movement from its infancy and unbanning to its literal dispossession through exile and the current manifestation of the once dominant movement. “The ANCYL looked at the character of the ANC and seek to involve more young people on the ground to join in the liberation struggle,” Tau said.

The Youth League has brought new ideas to the fore, influencing the programme of action that the ANC is following. “The ANCYL was pivotal in moving the ANC’s resolutions to include other demographical groups. The youth voice was a force within the ANC,” Tau said.

Listen to the recording of the discussion here:

Book launch:The Rise and Fall of ANC Youth Leage

News Archive

Trading innovative ideas for academic bursaries worth R275 000

2015-11-09

The top three individual bursary winners with TATA and UFS representatives. From Left: Naquita Fernandes, Henrike Prinsloo, Lebohang Motsisi, Stefan Strampe, Dr. Johan van Zyl, Jehan van Vuuren, Sanjeeb Lahiri and Salomien Boshoff.
Photo: Lize Van Den Berg

Learning from industry experts is essential for students’ development. When that learning eases the financial burden of tuition fees, it is even better. TATA Africa has ensured that students from the University of the Free State (UFS) earn academic currency for displaying leadership and business skills.

Jehan Van Vuuren walked away with R40 000 in his student account, Hendrike Prinsloo earned herself R30 000, Stephan Strampe has R25 000 less to worry about when the 2016 academic year arrives, and seven other students managed to save their parents R20 000 each.

These top 10 Strategic Marketing students from the UFS Department of Business Management and Department of Communication Science took up the challenge of devising strategic concepts to be implemented by the Africa branch of TATA Group companies.

TATA Group is a multinational conglomerate which specialises in a wide range of products and services, such as automobile manufacturing, hotel accommodation, construction, textiles, food and beverages, amongst other enterprises operating under its banner. On 15 October 2015, the company’s Head Office representatives signed a cheque for R275 000 to reward the creative input of our students.

Lesle-Ann George won an academic bursary worth R20 000 for her individual effort, and was also part of one of the best four groups that won R10 000 each. She said the competition was an opportunity of a lifetime. The financial aid will be channeled towards the BCom Marketing Honours degree she intends pursuing next year.

The students’ ideas included market research for TATA motors, the development of a mobile application for the Taj Hotel, as well as innovative student-oriented social media, and guerrilla marketing strategies.

“This collaborative partnership between TATA Africa and UFS has provided the students with an opportunity to learn from key role-players in the industry and, in turn, to gain practical exposure to real-life industry happenings,” said Naquita Fernandes, a Business Management lecturer and the competition’s co-organiser.

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