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The African National Congress Youth League 65th Anniversary Rally held on
the 31st of October 2009. The Rally was addressed by ANC President Jacob
Zuma and ANC YL President Julius Malema. The Rally was attended by more than
10 000 young people from various regions of the ANC YL in the Eastern Cape,
Provincial and National Leadership of the ANC YL.

The Rally was preceded by a week long political education classes conducted
by the ANC YL National Executive Committee in all ANC YL Regions of the
Eastern Cape and mobilisations of the communities to attend the rally.

On Friday, the 30th of October 2009, President Julius Malema visited Ikhwezi
Lokusa Special School for young people with disabilities in Umtata.
Concerned by the lack of basic necessities, such as wheelchairs for young
disabled students, the President committed to contribute 50 wheelchairs to
the special school before the end of the learning and teaching season this
year. Further details concerning this important social responsibility will
be communicated.

*In his address to the Rally, the President of the ANC YL emphasised and
focused on the following issues:***

· *Youth Development *

President Julius Malema emphasised the vitality of the National Youth
Development Agency intensifying youth development. He called for the speedy
localisation of the NYDA so as to ensure that as many young people as
possible have direct access to the services of the NYDA.

He raised concern over the fact that the readjustment budget presented by
Finance Minister Pravin Gordham did not allocate anything to the NYDA, which
in the Youth League's view should be priority. He called on Minister Pravin
Gordham to prioriotise youth development and understand that the NYDA is
currently the primary channel to advocate for and mainstream youth
development in all spheres of society. He specifically called of the
Minister to allocate not less than R1 billion to the NYDA.

· *Fight against HIV/AIDS *

The President welcomed and appreciated ANC President Jacob Zuma's renewed
commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS. He re-affirmed the ANC YL's
campaign of One Boyfriend-One Girlfriend Campaign and that young people
should understand that HIV exists and should use protection if they engage
in sexual activities.

· *Service Delivery*

The ANC YL President said that communities have a right to protest and that
the Youth League will support all protests where demands are genuine and
violence and destruction is used by protesters. He further said that
criminals should not be allowed to hijack the genuine concerns of the people
and use protests to destroy infrastructure and fight factional battles
through protest.

· *Alcohol, Drugs and Substance Abuse *

The President called for an absolute ban on all alcohol advertisement,
emphasising the point that South Africa cannot continue to celebrate alcohol
while it is responsible for many social ills, including rapid spread of HIV,
crime and social decay. He called on the government to immediately review
alcohol regulation laws to ensure that alcohol is not sold to people below
the age of 21. He also called for the banning of smoking in public places
such as hotels, restaurants, schools, etc.

· *Education Access *

President Julius Malema expressed concern over the fact that the democratic
government has not built even a single University since 1994. He then called
on the government of the ANC, under President Jacob Zuma to build
Universities in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga and Northern Cape. He
further made a call to Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande to come with
a concrete programme on how Free Education for the poor should be introduced
until undergraduate level.

· *Housing Access *

The President made a call to government to establish a State Owned Housing
Bank, which will specifically finance houses and property for middle income
groups, who are not eligible for RDP Houses and still cannot qualify to get
Housing Finance from Banks. He emphasised that this should looked at as a
matter of priority.

· *Nationalisation of Mines *

President Julius Malema re-affirmed the ANC YL's call for the
Nationalisation of Mines, emphasising that ANC leaders who are opposed to
the Nationalisation of Mines are unlikely to lead the ANC from 2012 onwards,
because the ANC YL will not support them.

· *African Leadership *

President Julius Malema re-emphasised the ANC YL's call that Africans should
be represented in strategic and key sectors of the economy. He specifically
called for the support of ESKOM Chief Executive Officer Jacob Maroga, who is
being blamed for ESKOM problems despite the fact that the previous
administration under President Thabo Mbeki accepted that ESKOM problems are
a consequence of government's inaction on the proposals made to expand the
power generation capacity of ESKOM.

The President spoke about a variety of vital organisational, political and
social responsibility programmes of the ANC YL, and emphasised the
historical evolution of the ANC YL as a formidable, militant, relevant,
fearless and radical youth organisation.

All the issues raised by the President in his 65th Anniversary address will
constitute concrete programmes of the ANC YOUTH LEAGUE with a decisive
intention to make that they are actualised. All these commitments illustrate
that the The ANC YL Lives! The ANC YL Leads!