*YCLSA’s year end statement for 2009* *“Wishing fellow South Africans a prosperous 2010”*
*30 December 2009 * The year 2009 has been an encapsulation of hard work, jubilation and perseverance for the Young communist league and its members. This is a year where the Young Communist League of South Africa (UFasimba) has been at the helm of a number of issues that affect young people within the borders of South Africa. As 2010 dawns upon us, it is imperative that we reflect on the work done in 2009. *Elections 2009* The YCL started the year with the objective of ensuring that the youth vote is delivered in the April elections. Members heeded the call and committed to delivering young people to the polling stations. This initiative involved workshops, campaigns on the ground and moreover using methods that speak to young people to make them realise the significance of voting. The ANC won the elections with an over-whelming majority; this is affirmation that our people continue to support the ANC. As the YCL we will commit in ensuring that young people continue to vote even in the coming local government elections come 2011. *Labour brokers* The YCLSA has continued to affirm its stance on the call to ban labour brokers outright, together with the Progressive labour Federation. After the call, the YCLSA has seen a large number of cases being brought to their offices by workers that have been subjected to illegal maladministration under labour brokers; this is evidence of the continuous exploitation that is being perpetuated by labour brokers in South Africa. We have held a joint seminar with COSATU and the Chris Hani Institute to ensure that we create awareness on labour broking and mobilise young workers on the ground. The YCLSA also participated in the public hearings which were initiated by the Department of Labour; our submission was very clear on our views on labour brokers and ensured that we corroborate our views with substantiated evidence as to why Labour brokers should be banned. The mood in most public hearings was clear that the majority particularly workers are fiercely opposed to the existence of this modern day slave trade; the overall profess was that they should done away with. The marriage of convenience between COPE and DA has been an antagonistic attempt by the two right wing forces to destabilise our campaign and continue to serve the interests of white minority capital in South Africa that continue to benefit immensely from the sweat of the working class. Due to the instability cause by labour brokers within the working environment young workers are destitute of any extensive working experience. We will continue to mobilise young workers against labour brokers. *Recession* The recession undoubtedly has been a monstrous enemy for the economy of South Africa and throughout the world. It’s quite unfortunate that the victims of this crisis have been the poor and the working class. The recession has also proven on a preponderance of probabilities that capitalism serves the elite few to the detriment of the majority where the earnings of workers simply suffer curtailment to perpetually feed the greed of multinational corporations. The national framework agreement that was born of intense political debate and robust engagement with all necessarily stakeholders ( labour, business and government) has been welcomed by the YCL. The YCL has urged government (through the Minister of Economic development),to ensure that bailouts must at no point be treated as” simplistic free cards” for capitalism to recuperate and preserve neo-liberal policies which are the fundamental reason why the recession impacted to negatively in the first place. Reckless lending and lack of control of financial markets have been the essence of the recession and measures need to be put in place to ensure that corporations are held liable for their misconduct and that includes directors that do not adhere to their fiduciary duties. *ID CAMPAIGN* The Kabelo Thibedi ID campaign of the YCL has been going strong and we still continue to assist young people that have had to face obstacles when obtaining their ID’s. The ID is an essential document and holds the key to anyone’s future therefore it should be made easily accessible. The tragedy of Skhumbuzo Mhlongo was a wakeup call for the Home affairs department. He resorted to suicide due to the ill-treatment service he received from a civil servant that was under the impression that Home Affairs is a concubine for aspiring fraudsters. We welcomed the innovative systems that were put in place in order to upgrade service delivery within HA. The newly appointed minster, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has shown great commitment in revamping the Home Affairs department and ousting the root of corruption completely within her department; this will go a long way in realising the goal of fast, efficient service delivery for the majority. *The SANDF* The YCL has been vocal about the unionisation of the defence force. The YCL believes that soldiers are also workers and should have access to the same rights and privileges that any worker has. Despite the controversy around the striking of soldiers it has yielded positive results for them; the president gave them an increase which they rightfully deserve considering the intense work that they do in order to ensure the safety and the security of this country. We applaud the president for taking this stance and lending a much needed ear to soldiers. It’s imperative that any mediatory or representative structure for soldiers should express their views objectively without prejudice or biasness. All workers in South Africa should have a voice and the union thus far has been the only formidable structure that has been able to raise concerns and grievance of workers to employers of any sort and in major sectors of our economy. *The ALLIANCE and the PYA* The YCL has always maintained solid organisational relations beyond individual leaders and this will continue. We have jointly won SRC elections within institutions of higher learning and we are co-governing with structures of the PYA we will continue to work hand in hand with structures of the PYA in advancing the revolution and ensuring that young people are emancipated from the scourges of poverty. We are content with the space created for engagement within the Alliance and President Jacob Zuma’s call for discipline and respect when comrades engage in robust political debate. It’s imperative that as cadres and disciplined forces the left we ensure that we never lose sight of the core issues that need to be addressed. Unnecessary spattering can only create delay in advancing the NDR. This sudden emergence of a tiny grouping that is driving a wedge within the ANC will be defeated *Membership* The YCLSA has seen a sterling increase in membership and this is the direct result of the YCLSA’s successful campaigns. The membership has grown by more than 10000 members this year. Most of the campaigns have been in line with direct issues that affect young people in South Africa and the ten youth demands that the YCL has made. Ours is to serve loyally the descendants of the working class and the poor and that is what the YCL will continue to do in their work through campaigns. * * *YCL National Political School* The YCLSA launched its National Political School this year and it was an overall success. This is in line with cadre development and giving members the opportunity to get a deeper understanding of the in-depth scientific literature of Marxist-Leninism. It’s imperative in any organisation that members understand what it is that they advocate, curbing confusion i.e. emerging young leaders who don’t understand the alliance and its dynamism and the role that communist play within the revolution particularly their centrality in the NDR. This is also a way to ensure that our members understand the long term pursuit for socialism. The YCL will continue to hold political schools nationwide next year onwards. *Looking forward to 2010* The YCLSA is already geared up for 2010 and ready to soldier on. The year for the YCL will open up with the Joe Slovo “right to learn” campaign; this is in line with YCL’s call for free education. Education, particularly in institutions of higher learning is a privilege and highly priced commodity; this unfortunate capitalist practise is to the exclusion of descendants of the poor and the working class who are in dire need of FREE, BASIC education. We will continue to work with the PYA in totality in institutions of higher learning to ensure that the majority get access to quality education. NSFAS plays a crucial role in allowing the participation of students that come from disadvantaged communities. NSFAS needs to give full-bursaries which cover everything from registration right up to monthly allowances for students as finance is the major setback for students that want to access institutions of higher learning. The YCL will also be holding its congress in 2010. The assembling of branches allows the YCLSA to take stock and assess the gains of the organisation. The year 2010 is also the year which will offer the YCL to review if the mandate from the previous congress has been fulfilled and if programmatic engagements have been beneficiary for the organisation; moreover what impact such programmes have made within our communities. It’s also an opportunity for members of the YCL to make an analysis of the impact that they have made within society, particularly the youth. *Matriculants “Class of 2009”* Young matriculants around the country have a bag of mixed emotions about the 7th of January 2010. This is viewed as judgement day for them as they anticipate hearing what the results of a whole year of hard work have mounted to. We wish them all the best and we are hopeful that our pass rate will increase. The department of higher education needs to place great emphasis on matriculants getting access to institutions of higher learning and also enhance the feasibility of FET colleges as they also play a vital role in our societies. Even those that will not make it, it’s important to dust yourself off and try again as failure is simply an imperfection that eventually leads to perfection. A lot of young people resort to suicide due to peer pressure and the negative impact of failing within society; families and friends need to be very supportive to those that have not made it and make them realise that there is always a second chance. We wish all South Africans the best of 2010. The world cup is one event that we have all been anticipating since it was announced that the World cup for the first time ever will be hosted in Africa and South Africa being the first country on this continent to be bestowed with that responsibility. That on its own was an achievement that is well embedded in our history books; we can only hope that Bafana Bafana will make us proud and possibly surprise us in reaching the finals. Who knows maybe win the world cup.....Optimism has never hurt anyone. *Issued by the YCLSA Head office* *Contact* *Gugu Ndima (National spokesperson)* *076 783 1516* -- Gugu Ndima +27 76 783 1516 -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . 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