ANC Youth League wants government to change land programme to avoid creating ‘rural elite’

With a number of ANC Youth League leaders contesting for the positions at its upcoming conference, a familiar face, Chrispin Phiri, has opted not to throw his hat into the ring so that he can focus on building the youth structure from within its national executive committee (NEC). 

Phiri, who is the spokesperson for Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, himself a former youth league leader, is regarded as a firebrand. Last year, Phiri took on high ranking leaders in the ANC, including presidential contender Lindiwe Sisulu, Tony Yengeni and former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. 

As one of the youth league members who crafted its discussion document, Phiri said they took time debating some of the key economic policies, including land redistribution.

The primary focus of the discussion papers was on new sources of cheap energy and energy sustainability for the future, he added.

In its document — which will be discussed and adopted at its conference this coming weekend — the youth league supports the development of nuclear energy, identifying it as a source of stable and reliable energy critical to advancing industrial development. The league regards nuclear power as environmentally friendly.

It says it will take a more radical approach to the land question, calling for expropriation without compensation. The reason for this, the document argues, is not solely to overcome land hunger, but as crucial for economic growth.

The youth structure says it is interested in transformation that overcomes 

the alienation of wage-workers, peasants and landless rural and urban dwellers under a

predatory form of capitalism.

Phiri said the league had attempted to reevaluate the efficacy of South Africa’s land policy. 

“We don’t hold back. We say there are a lot of things that could be done better. But it’s also a criticism of the current approach, particularly the fact that we feel that the current  approach to land restitution encourages the neo pseudo system,” he said.

“What we mean by that, essentially [is that] we’ve created these rural elites who dictate what happens with the land, and the land is still not in the hands of the people, truly. In some instances, it’s in the hands of a particular trust or a community association which then has an impact on how people access the land.” 

Phiri said although there are instances where land has been handed over to people with little productivity, the state needs to look at a new way of addressing the land question.

One of the biggest land trusts, the Ingonyama Trust, has been a topic of debate in the ANC, with some party members calling for it to be dissolved. Last year, the ANC’s integrity committee found that the Ingonyama Trust Act and similar pieces of legislation undermined the tenure rights of rural South Africans.

The trust controls almost three million hectares of land on behalf of the Zulu monarchy in terms of the Act, passed on the eve of democracy to secure the participation of the Inkatha in the 1994 elections.

The Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) is funded by the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development, under whose oversight it falls.

Phiri said young people needed to play a more integrated role in the land and economic system. “We fundamentally believe that the economic system is triggered primarily by land ownership, but also not just from an economic point of view, even from how people live.” 

He said part of a reimagined youth league would be centred on local level programmes.

The league’s constitutional amendment team has recommended that it establish political cells to broaden the range and efficiency of the structure. The cells will consist of 15 members from diverse backgrounds who represent various spheres in society, including professions, social clubs, religious and cultural groups, and higher education institutions. This is meant to entice more young people to join the league and augment its organisational capabilities, it said.

“I think what we are looking at now and what we should be concerned about is that we have this organisation, it has an incredible legacy, which really spans back more than six decades, seven decades, how do we preserve that legacy?” Phiri said. “But, more importantly, how do we future proof it so that it’s even more relevant in the future? And I think as we speak now, that is the extent of the question that the ANCYL is confronted with.” 

Phiri, who has been lobbied to lead at NEC level in the youth league, has endorsed Collen Malatji as his preferred candidate for its president. Malatji is expected to go up against Zuko Godlimpi and Aphiwe Mkhangelwa.

Although Phiri is not standingfor a top six position, he said he believed he would still contribute to the structure’s leadership.  

“We all play our different roles in the organisation, ultimately to influence the thinking of this organisation. Yes, the ANCYL does need to be broadly representative of very, very different people, different types of youth in the country. 

“That is the only way that we can claim to be a proper representative of young people. That’s the only way you can truly influence young people, if a lot of young people see themselves in us. 

He said they would rebuild the league “to ensure that we hand over an organisation that represents the future”.