Cape Town – ANC Youth League (ANCYL) president Collen Malatji has raised concerns over the organisation’s failure to reflect South Africa’s racial diversity, calling out the absence of white, coloured, and Indian members at a recent event in the Eastern Cape.
Speaking to youth delegates, Malatji said he was disturbed by the lack of visible representation in a structure that is supposed to mirror the principles of a non-racial society.
“I am seated here, and I do not see the proper spreading of the demographics of this country. I do not see white people here. I do not see coloureds here. I do not see Indians,” Malatji said, addressing a room of predominantly black members.
He argued that the Youth League, as the preparatory school of the ANC, must embody the full racial spectrum of South Africa if the mother body is to maintain its non-racial identity.
The ANCYL leader warned that if this trend continued, the youth structure could devolve into a racially exclusive body.
“We are now starting to look like a mini-PAC, and that cannot be accepted,” he said, referencing the Pan Africanist Congress’s historical positioning as a black-only movement.
Malatji said the ANC was built as a home for all races and that the youth league needed to actively recruit beyond its traditional base.
His comments come amid broader discussions within the ANC about the future of its leadership and the direction of the party. He stressed the need for unity as the party heads toward its next national elective conference in 2027, urging youth members to shift their focus from factionalism to policy debates.
[In Pictures] ANCYL Eastern Cape Presidential Jazz hour #ANCYLECJazzHour#ANCYLatWork pic.twitter.com/VC2FCE7ZZc
— ANCYL Eastern Cape (@EC_ANCYL) July 27, 2025
“Delegates who are young and will be sent to that conference will not spend time singing about individuals; they will spend time on how to build and work on resolutions that can take the ANC back to become the organisation of the people again,” he said.
He also called for a consensus-based leadership approach to avoid further internal divisions. “The ANC can no longer afford a contested national conference; the ANC cannot afford any other breakaway. The leadership of the ANC in 2027 must be elected on consensus,” he said.
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Compiled by Lisabeal Nqamqhele
