ANC in Gauteng faces backlash from youth and veterans leagues

JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress (ANC) Veterans League has echoed sentiments shared by the youth league after the latter raised concerns over the ANC's Gauteng leadership.

ANC Youth League president Collen Malatji has accused the provincial executive of failing to carry out an effective campaign ahead of the elections.

Malatji claims some leaders in Gauteng prioritised slay queens and hanging out in cigar and champagne lounges over tending to citizens' needs.

While the elders in the ANC have expressed great dissatisfaction in the province's handling of power-sharing talks with the Democratic Alliance (DA), the ANC has left the DA out of the executive, instead opting for a minority government.

READ: ANCYL's Malatji criticises some elected officials for sending their children to private schools

First, it was ANC Secretary General, Fikile Mbalula. Mbalula accused the ANC leadership in Gauteng of running the organisation through Zoom meetings.

His views were quickly echoed by Malatji, leading to a cryptic social media post by Gauteng's head of elections Lebogang Maile.

Maile has claimed "sugar daddies had sent their boyfriends out" to insult the provincial leaders, calling for them cowards and daring those behind the attacks to show their faces.

This is amid suggestions from some within the party for the Gauteng Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) to be disbanded.

Veterans' League president Snuki Zikalala said calls for the PEC to be dissolved would be up to the National Executive Committee (NEC) - the ANC's highest decision-making body.

Meanwhile, the ANC in Gauteng will have to rely on trade-offs to pass key resolutions, including the budget in the legislature.