Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) ANCYL defiant on Botswana, slams MDC

ANCYL defiant on Botswana, slams MDC
02/08/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

THE ANC Youth League has hit out at ANC leaders who hobnob with “imperialist controlled political parties like MDC in Zimbabwe” while expressing its “disappointment” at the public rebuke it received from ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu over its comments on Botswana.

The rebuke came after the ANCYL said it was sending a team to Botswana to consolidate local opposition parties as it believed President Ian Khama’s government was "in full co-operation with imperialists" and was undermining the African agenda.

In a statement, Mthembu said the ANC wanted to "totally reject and publicly rebuke the ANCYL on its extremely thoughtless and embarrassing pronouncements on 'regime change' in Botswana ..."

This was a total deviation from and an affront to ANC policy, he said.

But the Youth League’s spokesman Floyd Shivambu hit back on Tuesday, saying the ANC never "shied away from progressive internationalism".

This included associating with "progressive formations" around the world and opposing those whose values were contrary to those of the ANC, singling out the MDC in Zimbabwe and the BDP in Botswana.

He added: “That is why in Polokwane, the ANC 52nd National Conference resolved that, ‘Party-to-party relations amongst former liberation movements like SWAPO, MPLA, FRELIMO, ZANU PF, PAIGC, CCM, SPLM/A, etc, must be prioritised by the ANC and meetings and structured support of the former liberation movements in the region must be pursued.’

“The Conference further resolved that ‘a deliberate effort be made to strengthen relations with all progressive and like-minded parties in the region, continent and the world’.

“The 3rd National General Council of the ANC said that ‘the ANC continues to be the strategic centre of power, the leader of the Alliance, a disciplined force of the left, and a mass movement with an internationalist and an anti-imperialist outlook’.”

Shivambu said those policy positions informed the Youth League position of seeking a “practical programme of liberating the people of Botswana from imperialist dominance”.

He added: “All evidence points out very clear that the pronouncements and policy positions of the BDP led Botswana government openly embrace imperialism and a potential security threat to the entire African continent.

“The ANC Youth League does not believe that our position on Botswana and the approach is inconsistent with ANC policy outlook, and the public condemnation by ANC Spokesperson Jackson Mthembu does not help to clarify this position.

“If there is anything inconsistent with ANC policy directives, it is leaders of the ANC who associated with imperialist controlled political parties like MDC in Zimbabwe and BDP in Botswana. The ANC Youth League is concerned that strange ideological trends and political relations are being established for convenience, and this has potential to undermine the integrity of the ANC as a National Liberation Movement.”

The Youth League said the resolution of its National Executive Committee on the Botswana Command Team “stands until there is discussion with ANC Constitutional structures on what should be the approach to the Botswana question”.

Labels: ANC YOUTH LEAGUE, BOTSWANA, IAN KHAMA, JULIUS MALEMA, MDC

posted by MrK @ 12:46 PM