*YCLSA Eastern Cape Press Statement*
June 03, 2013 *YCLSA EASTERN CAPE PEC LEKGOTLA STATEMENT* The Young Communist League of South Africa (Ufasimba) Eastern Cape Province convened its first PEC Lekgotla of the 3rd Provincial Congress Provincial Executive Committee from the 01st – 02nd of June 2013 at the Buffalo City Public FET College, East London, under the theme: *“Building communist cadre for class battles ahead.”* This first Lekgotla was convened by the 3rd Provincial Congress Provincial Executive Committee since its election on the 07th – 09th December 2012 after a very successful and united congress with a clear mandate going forward. The Lekgotla was convened to draft a programme of action, to deliberate on key political and organizational issues that affect the working class and the poor in the province, as well as national and abroad, to assess the progress made on the implementation of 3rd Provincial Congress resolutions. The Lekgotla was addressed by our Deputy National Secretary of the YCSLA, Cde Alex Mashilo, and the Lekgotla was graced by the presence of our National Committee deployee, Cde OJ Fourie, and the residing National Committee member, Cde Jongumzi Cengani. The Lekgotla also received messages of support from the Provincial Secretary of the ANC, Cde Oscar Mabuyane; the Provincial Chairperson of COSATU, Cde Mpumelelo Saziwa; and SACP delegation led by the Deputy Provincial Secretary Cde Ndumiso Rooiland. The Deputy Provincial Secretary of the SACP conveyed to YCLers that capitalism remains a stumbling block to deal with the social challenges that face our communities and that socialism is the answer to address poverty, inequality and unemployment. Cde Rooiland highlighted that there are no shortcuts to achieving socialism and that we must be guided by Marxism and Leninism. The YCLSA must be conscience of the material conditions on the ground that will determine the Strategy and Tactics to ensure a socialist society. It was also reiterated that the YCLSA is the future of the SACP. The address by the Deputy National Secretary of the YCLSA, Cde Alex Mashilo, opened by congratulating the YCLSA on its 91st anniversary. Cde Mashilo also made use of the Lekgotla to give political education to the delegates by reflecting on the history of the YCLSA since its formation in 1922. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the YCLSA since its re-launch in 2003. It was also highlighted the effects that the capitalist system has on the youth and that contract workers and casual workers are limiting young workers’ ability to join unions for improvement of working conditions. The Deputy National Secretary further indicated that the youth of the country are facing serious challenges with regards to employment and education, noting that more than three million young people are neither employed nor are they enrolled into an institution for higher learning. The educational challenges are further stressed by the fact that there are low rates of educational attainment. In other words, the number of pupils who matriculate are far inferior to the number of those pupils who enrolled into Grade 1. Further more, teenage pregnancies remain a problem with many school going girls having no option but to drop out of school. This also affects some of the male pupils who are pressured to leave school in order to find employment to give support. It remains of great concern for the YCLSA that pupils are not completing their school education; it is also of concern the students who do not complete their higher education studies to graduate. The YCLSA in the province will intensify to Make Education Fashionable amongst the youth. *NYDA* The PEC Lekgotla welcomes the announcement of the Honourable President of the Republic of South Africa, Cde Jacob Zuma, of the appointment of the new National Board members of the National Youth Development Agency. We especially would like to make use of this opportunity to congratulate our National Chairperson, Cde Yershen Pillay, on his appointment as the Chairperson of the National Board. The YCLSA knows that Cde Pillay is qualified and experienced to take over the reins of the NYDA and steer youth development in the right direction. We call for the speedily appointment of the Provincial Board members of the NYDA to ensure that the youth of the province benefit from the programmes of the NYDA. *ANC * The Provincial Lekgotla noted that the African National Congress will be holding its provincial conference at the end of June. The Lekgotla noted that the current Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC under the leadership of Comrade Phumulo Masualle as the provincial chairperson and Comrade Oscar Mabuyane as provincial secretary has managed to improve the organisational and political situation within the ANC and the alliance. The movement was previously characterised by almost endless internal divisions and lack of unity and cohesion. The Lekgotla congratulated the leadership of the ANC and wishes the movement a resounding success in its conference. *Xenophobic Attacks and gender based violence* The YCLSA completely condemns the xenophobic attacks that have plagued the area of Port Elizabeth. The xenophobic attacks are completely contrary to the African and Ubuntu way of life. The problems of unemployment that our communities are facing will not be solved by looting the livelihoods of fellow Africans. The YCLSA is calling for direct interventions of the Alliance leadership to stop the xenophobic attacks and prevent it to spread to other communities in our province. In our view, competition between businesses operating in the communities where these attacks break out is at the core of the problem. The Lekgotla noted with concern the rise of gender based violence in our province and that this is part of the general phenomenon of gender based violence that is prevailing in the country, including among others rapes and killings of young women, elderly women and children. The Lekgotla condemned these ills to the contempt it deserves. The YCLSA will be actively involved through its members, branches, districts and the provincial leadership working with communities to combat this scourge. The Lekgotla called on law enforcement authorities to do their utmost best in dealing with perpetrators. *League Building* Branches have been tasked to be engaged in the following tasks, to satisfy their vanguard and vigilant role: · Engage into continuous Political Education programme, aimed at introducing youth and members to the basic philosophy of Marxism-Leninism. · Introducing members to the constitution of the YCLSA through branch inductions. · Engage into focused and targeted recruitment of youth, particularly young women, white and coloured youth. · Lead in campaigns that seek to undermine the power, presence and exploitative nature of capitalism. · Take up various civil responsibilities so as to identify and deal with the problems confronting youth. *Campaigns* The key campaigns that we will be focusing on are: · Operation Khula · Free Education Campaign · Jobs Campaign · HIV/AIDS · Joe Slovo Right to Learn Campaign *Cooperatives * The YCLSA discussed intensely the important role that cooperatives can play in changing the social and economic conditions of the poor and working class members of our communities. We call for one ward one cooperative and will continue campaigning for the establishment of cooperatives throughout the province especially in the rural areas. The Lekgotla has taken a resolution to hold district cooperative workshops that will guide in the establishment of cooperatives. *National Development Plan* The Lekgotla received an extensive presentation on the NDP from the Deputy National Secretary, Cde Alex Mashilo in line with the discussion documents of the YCLSA and the SACP. The strengths and weaknesses of the NDP were highlighted and delegates constructively engaged. The YCLSA will continue to engage with the NDP to advance alternatives to the areas that must be reviewed. As a youth formation we will be guided by the need achieve a coherent youth development policy while as a Marxist-Leninist organisation we will be guided a scientific outlook on development. *In Conclusion* The Lekgotla engaged on policy proposals as part of preparing for the National Council of the YCLSA that will be taking place at the end of the month in Kimberley, Northern Cape Province. The National Council, also referred to as the Mid-term National Congress, will discussed a series of documents that will form the basis of our programmes and campaigns. As the PEC Lekgotla, we also want to underline that an individual is subordinates to the organization. It is part of the new tendency to elevate an individual above the organization or to interpret the position of the organization spoken by the individual as a position of that individual. We will not defend any individual for speaking his/her own views but we will continue to defend an individual for outlining the position of the organization. That’s the bottom line the YCL says so. Ours is a struggle for socialism ultimately communism. After all, a more humane society is about “decent shelter for those who are homeless. It is about water for those who have no safe drinking water. It is about healthcare, it is about a life of dignity for the old. It is about overcoming the huge divide between urban and rural areas. It is about a decent education for all our people.” Chris Hani’s definition of Socialism! We are convinced that the path to a new, better, possible and desirable world is not capitalist, that path is socialism. Issued by the Provincial Executive Committee For more information please contact: Mluleki Dlelanga Provincial Secretary Young Communist League Cell: 078 6429004 or Cde Thabang Maseko Provincial Spokesperson Young Communist League Cell: 0837373180 -- -- 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] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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