Durban — With only three days left before the KwaZulu-Natal ANC Youth League holds its elective conference, there was uncertainty about whether it would go ahead following the withdrawal from Durban’s International Convention Centre (ICC) because of its high cost.
There were already fears that the conference could be postponed again should the league fail to secure a venue urgently.
The ICC’s cancellation was confirmed by provincial co-ordinator Mafika Mndebele, who said the party had advised them to look for an alternative venue as it could not afford the more than R1 million for a venue only, which ICC management had demanded.
Mndebele said he was hoping to get a venue at either the Durban University of Technology or the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The league was even prepared to hold the conference outside Durban since it was a provincial conference, he said.
“Despite this venue setback, we are hoping to hold our conference this weekend. We understood the party’s explanation and its concerns about the ICC’s cost as we understand the financial status of our movement. We are hoping to secure either DUT or UKZN,” said Mndebele.
The Olive Convention Centre, where the recent ANC provincial conference was held, was a no-no for the youth conference as it was closer to alcohol outlets, he said. They did not want to hold a conference near where alcohol could be easily accessed by young people.
Mndebele, who was announced as the mother body spokesperson in the province last week, also said the eThekwini regional youth structure had been temporarily disbanded and, therefore, its chairperson and secretary would no longer participate.
The decision to bar the regional structure’s participation was taken at the national executive committee meeting of the national youth task team, held at the weekend, he said.
After the national structure discovered that there were two parallel structures, all claiming to be legitimate in eThekwini, the decision was that the provincial task team must go and investigate which of the structures was elected legitimately, he said.
Currently, the front runners for the top two positions of chairperson and secretary were legislature member Nqobile Gumede and Qiniso Mnguni Harry, who is Gwala regional secretary. The two are said to have huge backing from most regions, including their own regions.
It has been over a year since the league has not had leadership in the province after the previous league structure’s terms expired. The league was last led by former Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu and eThekwini councillor Thanduxolo Sabelo.
Daily News