African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has called on the ANC Youth League to step up and provide guidance to young people on politically-related topics.
Mbalula urged the ANCYL to become a reliable source of information for young people, rather than allowing them to turn to Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema.
Mbalula said this during the ANCYL's 80th anniversary celebration on Tuesday, where former ANCYL leaders shared reflections.
“When young people want answers about the political situation in the country and they are naive and they want to know, they must come to the ANCYL. They cannot go to Julius (Malema),” he said.
Malema, who is a former ANCYL president, was expelled from the party in 2012 for bringing the party into disrepute. After he was axed, he later founded his own political party, the EFF, in 2013.
Mbalula went on to say that when young people do not understand the Government of National Unity (GNU), they should consult with the ANCYL for further information.
“They must come to you (referring to the ANCYL) and ask, because what is this GNU? They don’t know. These young people don't know politics and those answers they must get from us and how to navigate that space, it is not about to drown in it, but to stay close.”
Mbalula reiterated that young people lack political knowledge, saying that music genres such as amapiano is popular with them, and that the youth league had used pop culture to attract them to events.
Mbalula, who served as the secretary-general of the ANCYL from 1998 to 2004, was later appointed as the league’s president from 2004 to 2008.
However, he admitted that back then, the youth league used pop culture to lure young people into politics.
Mbalula cautioned that pop culture can be a powerful tool in the political sphere, but it should not be relied on permanently.
“The ANCYL did not like this thing, however, we used to organise parties on our birthdays ...it was before the era of Instagram, and the leadership of the ANC did not understand that.”
Mbalula added: “It should not be a permanent feature that every election you must employ that tactic. We employed it 10 years ago in those campaigns and it changes all the time.”
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