The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) has denied receiving an instruction from the ANC Women's League to call for an early ANC elective conference.

“The ANCYL dismisses the claims made in the SMS as untrue and unfounded. The ANCYL take no instructions from anyone,” ANCYL secretary general Njabulo Nzuza told News24.

He was reacting to a text message circulated over the weekend, according to which the league had received an instruction from the ANCWL to suggest an early ANC elective conference. This apparently followed a meeting between the two leagues.

The SMS was apparently from an ANCWL national executive committee member.

The ANCWL, which is due to hold its own NEC meeting on September 2, is then expected to announce that it too supports an early conference.

The ANCYL had said in order for the ANC to recover from its decline in support during the August 3 local government elections, it needed to elect new leadership.

According to the SMS, provinces including North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, and Mpumalanga would support the idea.

Nzuza however dismissed this as a joke. Some of the regions mentioned had been referred to as the “Premier League”, a faction said to be close to President Jacob Zuma.

Nzuza said the young lions had raised the issue of an early elective conference because they were concerned about the future of the 104-year old struggle movement. He said their call should not be used to cause more rifts in the ruling party.

“The Youth League wants unity in the ANC,” he said.