The ANC Youth League has warned that its mother body must adopt a more radical posture or risk further rejection by voters.
Addressing a packed hall in Mogwase on Friday, Youth League president Collen Malatjie said there is no justification for South Africa’s persistently high levels of poverty, characterised by widespread unemployment, homelessness, and a lack of economic opportunities. He argued that these conditions persist while the economy remains largely controlled by a white minority.
Malatjie said the ANC must urgently implement a radical land reform programme, alongside broader interventions aimed at transforming the economy as a whole.
“We can no longer explain why our people are cramped like sardines in squatter camps. We can no longer explain why so many educated people are unemployed. We can no longer explain why land continues to be owned by whites while our own people suffer. Something has to be done, and as the Youth League we demand action now. The president must include these measures in his address tomorrow,” Malatjie said.
He added that economic ownership remains deeply skewed.
“We cannot say everything is fine when minorities control 90% of the economy while 90% of South Africans have no ownership of the land that belongs to them. It cannot be right that our raw materials are exported, only for other countries to manufacture, build, teach, lead, and create jobs, while we remain without opportunities,” said Malatjie, who was recently re-elected for a second five-year term as Youth League president.
Similar concerns have been raised by communities across the North West province during engagements with ANC leaders who have been in the area throughout the week as part of the party’s 114th anniversary celebrations. Malatjie cited the province as a prime example of a mineral-rich region that should be prospering.
“It cannot be right that the North West, one of the richest provinces in the country, also has some of the highest unemployment rates. How can a province with so many mines have unemployment? It is because, in many instances, companies first employ foreigners and later even illegal foreigners,” he said.
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula, who delivered a lecture in honour of late Youth League leader Peter Mokaba, endorsed the Youth League’s call and acknowledged that the ANC had missed opportunities to implement radical land reform.
“We have had many missed opportunities. For a long time, we had a two-thirds majority but did not implement land expropriation. Your call is therefore correct. We support the call made by the Youth League, and I can promise you that when we regain power, we will implement land expropriation without compensation,” Mbalula said.
The ANC has suffered declining electoral support over successive elections, with its most significant setback occurring during the 2024 general elections, where it secured just 40% of the vote. This forced the party into a coalition government that has been marked by tensions, particularly with right-wing parties such as the DA and Freedom Front Plus, which have actively opposed the ANC’s transformation agenda.
