By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
21 July 2026- The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati Region has accused the ANC Regional Task Team of flouting the organisation’s guidelines and sidelining it in the process. The ANCYL in the region alleged that organisational decisions and political programmes appear to be administered with limited consultation of constitutional structures.
The ANCYL regional secretary, Kagiso Kgabo said this behaviour weakens organisational cohesion and confidence among the members. Kgabo said they have observed with growing concern regarding the current organisational environment within the ANC across their region.
“As the democratically elected leadership of the ANCYL, we believe it is our revolutionary responsibility to speak whenever the organisational integrity of our movement is placed under strain. The ANCYL remains unwavering in its commitment to the unity, renewal and electoral success of the ANC.
“It is because of this commitment that we cannot remain silent while organisational practices increasingly depart from the principles of collective leadership, consultation, transparency and internal democracy that have defined the ANC throughout its proud history,” he said.
Kgabo alleged that on 7 July 2026, they formally requested an urgent engagement with the ANC Regional Task Team to introduce the newly-elected ANCYL leadership, but they were met with refusal. He said the continued refusal to engage the elected leadership of the ANCYL reflects a worrying deterioration in organisational relations and undermines one of the ANC’s most important constitutional components.
“The ANCYL is deeply concerned by its continued exclusion from strategic organisational processes, including Regional Interview and Vetting Panel (RIVP) processes, political deployments and other activities directly linked to the 2026 Local Government Elections. The ANCYL cannot be expected to mobilise communities, defend the organisation and campaign for the ANC, while simultaneously being excluded from processes that determine the political future of the movement.
“The ANCYL is not merely an election campaign structure. It is the political school of the ANC and has historically produced generations of leaders who continue to serve the movement with distinction. The ANCYL has observed an increasing departure from the ANC’s long-established tradition of collective leadership,” said Kgabo.
He further said the ANC has never been built on unilateral decision-making. Kgabo added that it has always been strengthened through consultation, accountability and collective leadership.
However, ANC RTT coordinator in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati region, Walter Mabogola refuted the allegations and described them as absurd. Mabogola said the newly-elected ANCYL regional structure is being ‘weaponised’.
“The ANCYL structure refused to execute a mandate. So, what they are saying is hogwash. How can they say they are being sidelined while they refused to take a mandate? That structure is being used as a weapon by individuals to sow divisions. So, we deny the allegations in contempt they deserve,” he concluded.
The Guardian 