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In the end, if we ask the question: who comes first between the member and the organisation, we will certainly get a wrong answer. In the establishment, sustenance and life of any organisation there exists an endless, uninterrupted dialectical relationship between the membership and the organisation. In other words, there can be no organisation without members and equally, members are members because they belong to an organisation in the first place; otherwise they are just private individuals.

The correct question that will ultimately lead to a correct answer is: how important is it for the membership to understand their organisation and their role in it in order to build and strengthen the organisation and equally the organisation has an obligation to build its membership and produce a cadreship that will understand the challenges and tasks of the moment. The challenge of producing a quality cadre is a key subjective matter that faces the National Liberation Movement today like it did in the past and indeed elsewhere in the world. Because all of us have been born into history; it is thus obligatory for us to understand what history is.

The next task would be to understand what the African National Congress and its Youth League is and therefore the kind of cadreship it needs. Would the ANCYL need the same type of cadre that existed and operated in the Defiance Campaign of 1952 today? The answer is, NO. The country is now free, the ANC is no more in exile or banned, it is a ruling party. The new conditions of freedom and democracy present certain opportunities and yet at the same time impose certain challenges which the movement as a whole must try to understand and navigate through.

Naturally, the question arises: what organisation and cadreship would we want to see in a situation in which apartheid and national oppression is a thing of the past? The meaning of being an activist under oppression is different from being activist under freedom. In the past, to be an activist in the liberation movement meant that you "must be ready for death, to go to jail for a long period of time, to suffer the most cruel forms of torture at the hands of apartheid forces and, to go into exile". But today it may mean a "better life" in the crudest sense, indeed in the sense that the opposition normally ridicules our deployed cadres!

So, moving forward, the ANCYL as a political preparatory school for the ANC carries the greatest responsibility to prepare the next generation of leaders not only for the ANC but also, for society as whole.

The ANCYL is the youth league of the ANC, the leader of the national liberation movement. Organisationally, the Youth League is autonomous from the ANC but in terms of character, ideology, vision and mission and so on, the Youth League just like the Women's and Veterans Leagues, are one with the ANC. To understand the character of the Youth League, one must first understand the character of the ANC.

The ANC is born out of history: dispossession, colonialism, apartheid, oppression of one human being by another and so on. The history into which the ANC emerged must be understood in both national, class and gender terms. The mission of the ANC does not end with the formal defeat of apartheid in 1994. The vision to create a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa still remains the strategic objective of the ANC as captured in its revolutionary program the National Democratic Revolution (NDR).

The NDR is a thorough-going 'social transformation agenda' to build a society directly opposed in form and content; to the evil system of apartheid, in other words eradicating the legacy of apartheid and oppression: building a national democratic and caring society! The tasks that the current phase of the NDR throws at members and activists in the liberation movement are difficult and daunting tasks but - only with a proper characterization and absolute commitment would we be in a position to navigate through them.

If one asks the question: what kind of a cadre do we need at the moment; one is by implication asking the question: what kind of an ANC or YL do we need to build in order to successfully defeat poverty, underdevelopment, illiteracy, inequality, disease?

To borrow from the Strategy and Tactics (S&T), 2007:

"To carry out the NDR in the current phase requires a progressive national liberation movement which:
understands the interconnection between political and socio-economic challenges in our society;
leads the motive forces of the NDR in pursuing their common aspirations and ensuring that their sectoral interests are linked to the strategic objective;
masters the terrain of electoral contest, utilises political power to advance the objectives of the NDR and wields instruments of state in line with these ideals as reflected in the National Constitution;
organises and mobilises the motive forces and builds broader partnerships to drive the process of reconstruction and development, nation-building and reconciliation; and
conducts itself, both in its internal practices and in relation to society at large, in line with the ideals represented by the NDR and acts as a microcosm of the future".
The S&T puts clearly and explains in detail the specific elements that constitute the character of the liberation movement. The expectation is that members, activists and cadres must conduct themselves consistent with the 'progressive' character of the ANC. The individual character of the members of the Youth League must be one with the 'progressive' character of the liberation movement including even in our private lives. The moment the conduct of a member contradicts the character of the liberation movement, that member is by definition anti-ANC. That is what is called anti-ANC behaviour.

To quote the S&T at length again so as to emphasise the importance and correctness of this point:

"The vision that the ANC pursues is informed by the morality of caring and human solidarity. The kind of democracy it pursues leans towards the poor; and it recognises the leading role of the working class in the project of social transformation. Recognising the reality of unequal gender relations, and the fact that the majority of the poor are African women, the ANC pursues gender equality in all practical respects.

In this context, the ANC is a disciplined force of the left, organised to conduct consistent struggle in pursuit of a caring society in which the well-being of the poor receives focused and consistent attention. In terms of current political discourse, what it seeks to put in place approximates, in many respects, a combination of the best elements of a developmental state and social democracy. In this regard, the ANC contrasts its own positions with those of:
national liberation struggles which stalled at the stage of formal political independence and achieved little in terms of changing colonial production relations and social conditions of the poor;
neo-liberalism which worships the market above all else and advocates rampant unregulated capitalism and a minimalist approach to the role of the state and the public sphere in general; and
ultra-leftism which advocates voluntaristic adventures including dangerous leaps towards a classless society ignoring the objective tasks in a national democratic revolution.
In order for it to exercise its vanguard role, the ANC puts a high premium on the involvement of its cadres in all centres of power. This includes the presence of ANC members and supporters in state institutions. It includes activism in the mass terrain of which structures of civil society are part. It includes the involvement of cadres in the intellectual and ideological terrain to help shape the value systems of society. This requires a cadre policy that encourages creativity in thought and in practice and eschews rigid dogma. In this regard, the ANC has a responsibility to promote progressive traditions within the intellectual community, including institutions such as universities and the media. Playing a vanguard role also means the presence of members and supporters of the ANC in business, the better to reshape production relations in line with the outlook of a national democratic society".

The organisational renewal takes place or must take place within this context and through this understanding: 'the vision that the ANC pursues is informed by the morality of caring and human solidarity'. That is the organisation we seek to build and that is the cadreship that this organisation must produce. The renewal of the ANC starts with the Youth League for obvious reasons, chief among them is the fact that the Youth League must work extra hard to ensure that the rot or rather degeneration does not happen in the first instance in its ranks because this means there is no future for the ANC as a result. It would be wrong for the ANCYL to degenerate, be lazy, conservative, factional. It would imply that Youth League is a 'preparatory school' in which the death of the ANC is orchestrated and certified.

The advantage of the ANC is for history to establish it as the oldest liberation movement in Africa and the last one to liberate the last oppressed nation on the continent. What does this mean in terms of lessons of history in the evolution of liberation movements in the continent? What obligations does this impose on the ANC in the struggle to liberate Africa moving forward? Is it a blessing or a curse? The answer for this one depends on what really you are looking at but either way we need an answer for these questions.

We must avoid the risk of speaking about the kind of cadre we must build in abstract terms removed from reality. Our task is not to see the tasks of building a new cadre in theoretical and hypothetical terms but to concretely ask: in relation to which organisation and what revolutionary project is the cadre modelled? The cadre we must build must not only reside in our minds but, must be a cadre that will be in a position to characterize history and society, the tasks of the moment and develop ideas and programs to change society. In doing so, that cadre can be said to be building the movement because, it is a cadre at work to change society for the better. The people will see a glorious movement through her noble work.

The organisations change when reality changes and thus need ideas, knowledge, skill and a cadre that will understand whatever changes are taking place at each stage or moment. The danger arises when the change of reality impacts on the nature and character of the organisation unconsciously (without the membership and organisation being aware) because what this means is that the organisation is being impacted upon by reality without recognition or rather appreciation.

The organisation and its cadreship must be consciously aware of the changing reality on the ground so as to consciously direct and manage both the negative and positive impact the changing reality brings to the nature and character of the organisation because indeed failure to do so, will result in the dangerous tendency of the changing reality transforming the organisation into something we do not know, instead of the organisation transforming reality and making advances in improving the progressive nature of the organisation and positioning the organisation to lead society better.

What are the challenges of the moment? There are many challenges or rather tendencies that we need to identify and characterize properly. But it would be better to focus on the more pronounced tendencies of the day given space and time. Below is a limited number of challenges and, some have emerged and established themselves as tendencies that are anti-progressive nature of the liberation movement and thus destructive and, secondly, some of these stated challenges are not necessarily new but; due to their persistent and changing nature, they require emphasis:

The challenge of state power

The one thing that was absent during apartheid was state power and state resources. Then there was a different discipline. People joined the movement with great sacrifice and cost to their lives. There were few instances where some comrades would abuse power in exile including donor funds etc. And those who were caught were punished severely. But today corruption, greed and selfishness have come to characterize the being of some of our members, something that is contrary to the very soul and true character of the movement as a caring, selfless and progressive organisation. Today some people are almost certain that a membership in the ANC guarantees them a better job, access to tenders including even in corrupt ways, access to high level of state information and key decisions, access to decision-makers, access to state funds. This is based on the reality that the state wields a lot of economic and financial power as the ultimate trustee of the public, the people.

It appears that we recite the progressive values of the movement but conduct ourselves in a manner that undermines the very value-system that the movement seeks to promote and nurture. In other words, we are not as committed and principled as we pretend to be. This results in a fallacious organisation: where we all think and assume that we subscribe to the same discipline by virtue of being members of one ANC and yet we are just individuals each with his or her own personal interest and nothing about the ANC or the people we claim to liberate. What then are the consequences of this kind of conduct and on the future of the movement? What does commitment mean in practice? Whereas the answers may not be clear, however, the consequences are clear.

People get elected into political office or support a particular candidate with a stated position in mind: that if he/she is chairperson of the region then he/she will be in pole position to be mayor and; we as supporters and campaigners will get to influence this or the other decision on state resources. This is unprincipled support. Leaders who received unprincipled support are then trapped into a patronage and payback lifestyle and it becomes an unending and forever growing vicious circle that devours the movement every second.

The challenge of poorly trained cadres

One area in which any serious political formation must never fail on is political education, both formal and informal. Political education is the lifeblood of any organization. Even the poorest organisation can mount a serious and consistent political education program. These days, those who know do not share but use their political knowledge and experience to take advantage of new, ignorant and learning members.

Chairman Mao puts this clearly: "experience proves that some people violate discipline because they do not know what Party discipline is, while others∑violate it knowingly and exploit the ignorance of many Party members to achieve their evil ends".

Under current and new conditions we still need a cadre that will reaffirm the best old traditions of the movement and where necessary, improve the discipline of the organisation to respond to current challenges. One of the best old traditions of the movement is 'organisational internal democracy' and the following is also advised in the document Through the Eye of the Needle:

We need to "subordinate the needs of a part to the needs of a whole". The view of the majority should prevail and the decisions of higher structures must be observed. But the manner in which this is done must be re-examined in the organization. In some instances, there is abuse of this vital principle of democracy which then results in defiance, disunity and instability in the organization. The experience of conferences that had to be reconvened because there is a case of abuse of democratic principles, procedures and systems is forever growing in the ranks of the League. Why is that so in a 'democratic' organisation?

Learning is not a static process for both the cadre and the organization. The world is forever changing and therefore; there is a need to update one's knowledge base constantly otherwise one risks the danger of being irrelevant. So, as Lenin once said; our duty is to "learn, learn and learn". Can we atleast see discipline towards learning?

The persistent 'gender' challenge

At the center of our struggle for a better life for all is the struggle for the emancipation of women from all forms of patriarchy. From the home-front to all spheres of life, a conscious and dedicated cadre must fight the social exclusion and abuse of women. This means taking up issues and programs that protect and advance the rights and status of women in society. Higher consciousness dictates that women empowerment is a smaller part of the greater project to emancipate women from national, class and gender oppression.

Whereas a lot of remarkable work has been done in and by government to mainstream issues of women since the advent of democracy, the same cannot be said about dedicated work on gender issues in the organisation and our role in engaging society on this critical matter. There has been a decline of political work in this area and this may perpetuate gender stereotypes and domination of men moving forward and this will mean regress.

For instance, despite the progress made, why is that in the schooling and university system women are dominant in terms of access but not success? Why is it that the public discourse is dominated by male intellectuals? Why is that, when we speak of child-headed homes it is the girl-child that heads the home? Why is it that most conference papers in the League/movement are presented by male comrades and most meetings chaired by males?

What then are the tasks of a conscious and dedicated cadre in relation to the struggle to emancipate women since we all agree that; gender oppression is a cross-cutting social phenomenon which requires the mobilisation of all of society and all sectors? What should be the character and conduct of a conscious and committed cadre in relation to these questions?

The challenge of a dying branch

The basic unit of the organisation is on the decline qualitatively and quantitatively both in the ANC and the League. The reason for the decline is a combination of things: The failure to characterize and engage in local day to day struggles of the people and the youth, low levels of political education, factionalism and infighting, involvement of the League in mother-body factional battles etc. The Organisational Renewal document suggests that branches become active towards elections and congresses.

There has been a fallacious argument that, the reason why the branch is on the decline is because; the branch has been disempowered in the hierarchy of the organization in terms of its political and constitutional role in the recent past. If that is true, why then are there local government challenges plaguing the movement and the country in the presence of branches? Should we not have the branch as the first and effective unit that responds to local problems? Is it also disempowered at local level? In our view, this maybe a false argument used to defocus the movement from real reasons of the 'dying/declining branch'.

The danger is emerging now that in the near future if branches are not given priority (in terms of building and strengthening), we will end up having NECs only without real active branches on the ground (e.g. ZanuPF) and; the organic nature of how we execute the revolution would be absolutely lost and destroyed. What is the experience in Zimbabwe?

How should the ANC and the Youth League strengthen each other at branch level since we have all accepted that the movement is anchored on branches without which there can be no organisation? What quality is the cadre that constitutes this branch? Is the cadre ready for the future that is increasingly complex domestically and globally? How should the Youth League, the future of the ANC and in many ways the future of our country, take care of the ANC? The Youth League must have interest in the affairs of the ANC and vice-versa but, to what extent should this interest be exercised?

The generational challenge

The changing nature of the demographic profile of our population is a reality that must be factored in our political strategy of mobilization and building consciousness (politicisation of the youth). This is a key task facing the Youth League now. The future political support of the ANC will not come from the aging support base but from the youth of today. This also imposes the assumption or the obligation that the ANC will and must remain progressive. What then should be the task of the Youth League cadre in relation to this challenge? How does it manifest itself in the ranks of the movement itself? Is it not true that the old exile and UDF generation is aging? How will the transition between the old and the new be handled, indeed the transitional challenge of the young and the old? Already experience shows that the ANC is getting younger every day? What does this mean? Is it not true that some of the internal problems of the movement arise because of failure to characterize and handle this transitional challenge properly?

All of these matters and many more need a certain quality of a cadre that must emerge NOW in our ranks! What is to be done? Our task as the Youth League is clearly cut out in a post-1994 South African society. The glorious history of the League does not allow the kind and pace of degeneration we are witnessing. What needs to be done is to understand that the task of revolutionaries in a revolution is not only to defend the gains and advances but, that the revolution must also have the capacity to defend itself. Do we have a cadre that can do that? If we do not, what then must be done?

Organisations change when reality changes and thus need ideas, knowledge, skill and a cadre that will understand whatever changes are taking place at each stage or moment. The danger arises when the change of reality impacts on the nature and character of the organisation unconsciously (without the membership and organisation being aware). What this means is that the organisation is being impacted upon by reality without recognition or rather appreciation.

The organisation and its cadreship must be consciously aware of the changing reality on the ground so as to consciously direct and manage both the negative and positive impact the changing reality brings to the nature and character of the organization because indeed failure to do so, will result in the dangerous tendency of the changing reality transforming the organisation into something we do not know, instead of the organisation transforming reality and making advances in improving the progressive nature of the organization and positioning the organisation to lead society better.

This then among other things is what it means to be a "political preparatory school" of the ANC.