At the 2024 Beijing Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in September last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed that the overall characterisation of China-Africa relations be elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era. “This declaration affirms, whether faced with pandemic or geopolitical shifts, Africa and China will still remain each other’s most trustworthy true partners,” said Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi, South Africa’s minister of public service and administration. “In this light, we must…

The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in the Norman Mashabane region, Limpopo, has cracked the whip on Tzaneen sub-regional convenor, Tonic Sehlwana, for labelling provincial chairperson Faith Sebopela a “small girl” during a heated argument in a meeting.  The league has provisionally suspended Sehlwana, the Markshope (Tzaneen) sub regional convenor, for hurling insults against Sebopela when she tried to caution him to be brief when he was talking at the meeting last month.  This happened during the league’s provincial working committee…

The ANC in Limpopo has placed its former Member of Parliament Boy Mamabolo on a temporary suspension for repeatedly insulting and threatening fellow party members on social media. In recent days, Mamabolo went on a tirade against the party’s national executive committee (NEC) member Onnica Moloi and former ANC Youth League (ANCYL) chairperson Matthews Malebana. He accused Moloi of moral bankruptcy and sleeping around and publicly celebrated his “enemy” Malebana’s death. He added that the former youth leader must “rot…

Two Limpopo ANC structures – the ANC Veterans League (ANCVL) and the ANC Youth League (ANCYL)  – have joined forces and demanded that loose tongued former MP Boy Mamabolo be sanctioned by the governing party.  Their call comes after Mamabolo insulted and questioned the moral standing of ANC national executive committee (NEC) member Onnica Kwakwa, who is also the Department of Defence spokesperson.  Mamabolo had also celebrated the death of former Limpopo ANCYL chairperson, Mathews Malebana, saying he should “rot…

The Limpopo ANC Youth League’s (ANCYL) demand that its regional chairpersons take over as district municipality mayors after the 2026 local government elections has pitted the young lions against the ANC. At its first meeting on Sunday (March 2), the ANCYL’s provincial executive committee (PEC) resolved to push for power across the province’s five districts: the Mopani, Peter Mokaba, Vhembe, Waterberg, and Sekhukhune districts. “The PEC reaffirms the call for all regional chairpersons of the ANCYL to take over municipalities…

A newly elected KwaZulu-Natal ANC Youth League (ANCYL) provincial executive committee (PEC) member is in hot water after he made disparaging remarks about a female fellow comrade. In a voice note that went viral, Nhlosi Gwala (also known as Nhloso Zulu) is heard telling the woman she nothing but an HIV/Aids positive prostitute after a fallout over preferred ANCYL PEC candidates at a recent elective conference.  Both Gwala and the woman, who would not be named to protect her dignity,…

A prominent former leader of the ANC Youth League in KwaZulu-Natal has been found dead and his body dumped in a river in Donnybrook in the southern part of the politically volatile KwaZulu-Natal. Mduduzi Memela’s body was found with what appears to be a stab wound on the neck and his eyes were reportedly gouged out. Memela was the second secretary of the youth league in the region and took over from anti-corruption crusader, Thabiso Zulu. At the time of…

LIMPOPO ANC Youth League (ANCYL) chairperson Tonny Rachuene, who has won praise from traditional leaders for championing their cause, has vowed to “narrow the gap” between the governing party and traditional leaders and restore the latter’s dignity.  Rachuene has won the hearts and minds of many, including Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) President Kgoshi Mathupa Mokoena, after leading a campaign that has seen the youth league visiting more than 20 tribal authorities and lavishing them with gifts…

Arising from my recent article, the question arose if I should not have addressed it to the ANC instead of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL). One comrade has cited the impact of factional divisions within the ANC on the ANCYL. He argues that this has had a very negative effect on the composition of ANCYL task teams, their mandate as well as their political and organisational focus. He is sceptical of the commitment of the ANC leadership towards unity and…

Unemployment is one of South Africa’s biggest tragedies. Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the first quarter of 2023 has painted a grim picture of the youth unemployment rate in the country, which increased by 1.1 percent to 46,5 percent this year.  Around 11% of workers who should be working are unemployed. Up to 70% of young workers, between the ages of 15 and 24 years, are unemployed. Over 30 million South Africans live below the poverty…