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The ANC Youth League is disgusted by the conspiracies being spread by Blade Nzimande, the part-time General Secretary of the South African Communist Party. In the radio interviews Blade Nzimande is doing, he repeats the old and tired conspiracy that the ANC Youth League is speaking about nationalisation because leaders of the ANC Youth League are bought by mining companies that are failing and need a bail-out. Blade Nzimande claims that only few business people will benefit from Mines’ nationalisation. The ANC Youth League believes that these conspiracies and the attitude of Blade Nzimande are foolish, childish and reactionary.

In our call for Nationalisation of Mines, the ANC Youth League has never said, nor suggested that government must buy Mines or spend government resources for the State to take ownership and control of Mines. In more than thousand times, the ANC Youth League has said we should utilise legislation to take over control and ownership of existing Mines and all future Mining activities. To suggest that this is bail-out is not only foolish, but out of touch with reality. The biggest beneficiary of nationalised Mines will be the working class and the poor, and the ANC YL nationalisation document which Nzimande should read clearly states how the working class and the poor will benefit through better salaries, jobs and organic community development and upgrading.

Despite substantial evidence provided that State ownership and control of Mines will exponentially benefit South Africa, Nzimande has space in the ANC and in government to make recommendations and suggestions on how nationalised Mines should benefit all the people. The 2010 ANC NationalGeneral Council, which Nzimande attended, established greater consensus on nationalisation of Mines and other strategic sectors of the economy and mandated the ANC National Executive Committee to do further work through research, discussions and study tours and report to the Policy Conference for decision at National Conference in 2012. This resolution does not seem to have been understood by the absent General Secretary, hence the ranting and conspiracies he continues to spread.

The ANC Youth League is inspired that COSATU, a reliable fighter in the struggle for the emancipation of the working class, rejects the conspiracies spread about the call for Nationalisation. We particularly appreciate that COSATU’s interventions and inputs are aimed at strengthening thenationalisation perspective and not ridicule it through lies. The ANC YouthLeague calls on all alliance partners to constructively engage on this critical question of transfer of wealth in line with the Freedom Charter and stop manufacturing lies and labels which do not help the ANC resolve the issue more amicably. The ANC Youth League is open to constant engagement and discussions which seek to realise Freedom Charter objectives, and will not sit defenceless when absent people spread lies and conspiracies about our organisation.