African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Gwede Mantashe must watch what he says when speaking on the current wave of fees must fall protests, ANC Youth League president Collen Maine warned on Sunday.

“His comments were reckless,” Maine told journalists at the ANC’s national headquarters in Johannesburg.

Maine along with other leaders addressed the media following a two day national executive committee meeting. The league discussed a number of matters, including students’ calls for free education.

The young lions rejected the proposed fee hikes announced by Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande, saying Mantashe needed to be careful on what he communicated.

The ANC SG was reported last week to have said that if he was in Nzimande’s position he would close institutions of higher learning.

“My first reaction would be to close them. For 16 months. And open them after six months, and close the residences for six months. After a year, people will know higher education will be important for their future. You are not doing anyone a favour by studying."

But Maine, addressing Mantashe in his personal capacity, said he needed to appreciate the responsibility bestowed upon him by the ruling party.

“Once you are the SG of the ANC making such reckless statements, it can’t be. It's lack of appreciation of implementation of the resolutions,” said Maine.

The ANC’s Zizi Kodwa said he would not respond to the league's comments in public.

“The ANC Youth League shares the same building as the ANC. It's a unit of the ANC, if they have any issue with the ANC instead of responding and attacking the leadership of the ANC in public, the doors of the ANC, including the SG, are always open. We are looking forward to meeting with them to understand exactly what it is they are saying,” he told News24.