BY REGINALD KANYANE

The North West Provincial Chairperson of the ANC Youth League and MEC for Local Government and Human Settlements – Collen Maine has been nominated unopposed as the presidential candidate of the province during the Provincial General Council hosted at Mmabatho Civic Centre in Mahikeng over the weekend.

The provincial general council was held to prepare the Youth League in the province for the upcoming 25^th National Congress to be held at Gallagher Estate in Midrand from the 4^th to the 6^th of September – this coming weekend under the theme “Unity in Action Towards Economic Freedom in our Lifetime : Rebuilding the ANCYL and Reshaping the Future”.

Other names nominated unopposed for other top positions of the league includes Desmond Moela from Mpumalanga for Deputy President position; Njabula Nzuza from KwaZulu-Natal for Secretary-General and Thandi Moraka from Limpopo for Deputy Secretary-General. The league abstained to nominate anyone for the Treasure-General position.

When addressing the gathering Maine rebuked those using state power with tendencies of buying members of the ANC. He warned that the ANC is not cheap and is not for sale. “This new culture of buying members of the league must come to an end. Leaders of the ANC especially those who were removed from the state offices, must not want to influence the outcomes of the league by influencing and buying members to vote in a certain way. These tendencies must fall” said Maine.

In the quest to rebuild and restore the league’s integrity, Maine called on members to join the league at branch level and to be groomed and shaped to grow within the organization and develop as future leaders. “People can’t be elected chairpersons today and expect to be presidents tomorrow. There is no ANC Youth League branch in Luthuli House. All of us must start at the branch level and go through the Eye of the Needle” said Collen Maine.

As the congress date draw closer, Maine remembered where it all went wrong for the youth League. “We destroyed it in Gallagher Estate and we must go and restore this League there,” he said, referring to the last national congress that elected the League’s expelled leadership. “Being radical and militant does not mean you must be anarchic and disrespectful like the previous leadership. There is no room for anarchy in the ANC. Members must respect democratic processes of the organization and those who are not happy must learn to accept and live with such decisions” remarked Maine.

He also emphasized that all resolutions to be taken at the conference that starts this Friday will be of the league’s collectively and must never be pinned to an individual. Maine said the league must push for free education for all. “For young people to access opportunities presented to them, education must be free and fashionable. Without education we will not realize the economic freedom that we are advocating for as the Youth League. The league must take these resolutions and fearlessly engage the ANC to find expression within the movement” concluded Maine.

National Task Team deployee of the ANC to the province Faith Muthambi was impressed by the level of discipline displayed by members of the league who participated in all activities which ensured the delivery of a successful and incident free provincial general council.

-TDN

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LAGOS – Gunmen in Nigeria’s southern oil city Port Harcourt have kidnapped a senior journalist working for a private national newspaper, police and the daily announced on Monday.

Donu Kogbara, a renowned columnist for Vanguard newspaper, was abducted Sunday morning from outside her residence in the southern city, which is capital of Rivers State, the daily said.

Ahmad Muhammad, police spokesman for Rivers State, said efforts were under way to rescue her.

“We are making serious efforts to rescue her alive. We have our strategies to achieve this but I am not at liberty to disclose them to the public,” he told AFP.

For more http://www.enca.com

President Jacob Zuma was a brainless bonus voters gave to the story of exile and Robben Island, but that time is over now, EFF leader Julius Malema said.

http://m.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/Zuma-a-brainless-bonus-Malema-20150830

A Nigerian security official says the Islamic extremist rebels of Boko Haram are trying to spread their violent campaign across Nigeria including Lagos, the country’s largest city.

http://m.news24.com/news24/Africa/News/Boko-Haram-is-trying-to-hit-Lagos-Nigerian-official-20150831

The unveiling of the burial and commemoration site of Makwena Matlala, the first African woman banished by the apartheid regime, is set to take place in Limpopo to culminate Women’s Month.

http://m.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/First-African-woman-banished-in-apartheid-honoured-20150831

Pretoria – The latest figures on rhinos poached in South Africa are a cause for concern, South African National Parks (SANParks) chief executive Fundisile Mketeni said on Sunday.

At least 749 rhino have been killed in South Africa this year, compared to the same period last year. Picture: Adrian Steirn. 
(Credit: AP)

“Of course we are worried; that is why all the (Cabinet) ministers are here. It is because of that worry and also to articulate all the interventions to stop the tide,” he told reporters at a briefing in Pretoria at which Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa presented the latest figures on rhinos killed by poachers.

Those attending included Police Minister Nathi Nhleko and Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

For more http://www.iol .co.za