ANC confident of youth vote – Bulwane

According to Bulwane, 70 percent of the province’s 2.6 million people were young people and almost all of them will vote for the ANC in next year’s national elections

ANC provincial secretary, William Bulwane, is confident that an overwhelming majority of young people in the Free State will vote for the ruling party in next year’s national general elections, despite attempts by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to lure ANC Youth League (ANCYL) members.

Speaking after the ANC’s provincial Lekgotla that was convened over the weekend, Bulwane warned ANCYL members against joining the splinter group, which is led by expelled ANCYL president, Julius Malema, with the hope of getting leadership positions and employment in the public sector.

He assured that the EFF will suffer a crushing defeat in next year’s polls and will have no leadership positions or job opportunities to offer young people; contrary to their pre-elections promises. Bulwane said the emergence of new political parties prior to national elections was nothing new and posed no threat to the ANC, which continues to receive an overwhelming endorsement from the electorate since the 1994 general elections.

Bulwane said, just like the Congress of the People (Cope), the EFF’s manifesto was not different from ANC policies. He highlighted this as a clear demonstration of the opposition parties’ lack of original policies to offer the people in the Free State and the rest of the country.

“The ANC is not moved or shaken by anyone; the young people leaving for the EFF will come back, just like their Cope counterparts.” According to Bulwane, 70 percent of the province’s 2.6 million people were young people and almost all of them will vote for the ANC.

“We have instructed our Sasco and ANCYL members to reach out to the young people and motivate them to join the ANC. People are more likely to join a political party like the ANC because of the opportunities presented to them by the ANC-led government since the dawn of democracy.

“We urge young people not to waste their votes by throwing their weight behind these fly-by-night parties,” he added.

The ANCs provincial deputy secretary and agriculture MEC, Mamiki Qabathe, said the ruling party has experienced a surge in membership amongst the youth and women, despite the formation of new parties such as EFF and Agang SA.

“We have communicated with young people on the ground and urged them not to follow these in-fashion organizations.”

Qabathe said unemployment among young people remain the ANC’s biggest challenge but expressed confidence that more job opportunities will be created for the youth in the future. She said the agricultural sector alone had shed 25 000 jobs over the past financial year.

“The agriculture sector is always concerned about finding markets, dealing with unpredictable weather conditions, processing of products, police for stock theft challenges, roads for infrastructure and housing for people living on the farms.

“Yes, we would like to create jobs for young people and urge them to seek opportunities for themselves in the agricultural sector but there is a challenge faced by major economies across the world,” she added.

Qabathe pointed to the declining mining sector, which has shed thousands of jobs in the Goldfields area, as a great source concern for the future growth of the Free State economy.

Bulwane said the ANC-led government is facing similar challenges faced by major economies across the globe since recession when it comes to unemployment, specifically youth unemployment.

“The economic meltdown has negatively affected foreign direct investment and, consequently, job creation. There has been a significant decline in agriculture and the mining sector.”

Bulwane said that those who leave the ANC seeking job opportunities elsewhere will be thoroughly disappointed

“In 2009, many people left for Cope and when they came back, they complained that they were not working and they could not even afford to pay for their children’s school fees. They left when the ANC needed them most, so they should not return to expect to find things where they had left them.

“They have to start at the bottom again. When they return, just as the Cope returnees did, we will give them political education and deal with them in a proper manner,” asserted Bulwane.