A REASON TO BE A PROUD GENERATION

ANCYL Provincial Secretary Phineas Sebola is newly elected ANC Limpopo PEC member who writes in his personal capacity.

By  Phineas Sebola

In the Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, Karl Marx remarks that “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.

The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.” It is, either you choose or not, in the nature of every generation to exist in unique struggles which from time to time depends on the character of each one of them particularly those found at the echelons of power, either politically or otherwise to identify a mission or programme of action, fulfill it or betray it.

The choice of this, will be articulated in future as a lesson of history, hence, out of choice or material conditions, such men of those generations would have written their own history.

The date of the 27th-29th March 2026, marks a day of an event prepared with a set of engagements by or of comrades of the African National Congress in Limpopo from the day the SG Cde Fikile Mbalula communicated a decision of the ANC is as far as the period marked as a cut off date for all conferences.

The ANCYL in Limpopo at that time, was preoccupied with preparing to host for the first time in History, an urgent national conference of the ANCYL. Little did we know, that as we were seen occupied by such a historic event, it rose expectations of immediate pronouncement of leadership preference to spark a debate about dynamics of such conference.

However, experience of Such event would have then taught us that it is possible to unite the ANC. A debate led by President Malatji would have suggested that perhaps the ANC must generally work on the idea of consolidating through a process the SACP calls democratic centralism. 

Returning from conference, a debate of unity started on the corridors until on the 22nd of January 2026 in a meeting of the 10 regional chairpersons of the ANC in Limpopo and the Provincial Chairperson and Provincial Secretary of the ANCYL Limpopo met at the New Peter Mokaba stadium’s presidential suite.

The meeting was coordinated by Cde Pule Shayi and Convened by Cde John Mpe, the then Regional chairpersons of both Norman Mashabane region and Peter Mokaba region respectively to discuss the possibility of a unity call. The meeting resolved to appoint a teach named Technical team of the 5 regional secretaries and both the Chairperson and Secretary of the ANCYL.

The team was tasked with the following.

1: Find a Mechanism lobby structures of the ANC in the province to go to a united conference 

2: Identify the immediate challenges faced by our people in order to suggest the outlook of what an organisation , with its current from and nature, should reflect 

3: Protect the ANC by all means necessary 

This was an established lobby team as conference date pronouncement by the PEC would have meant ; lobbying is officially opened. The team met on the 23rd January 2026 at the Old Peter Mokaba stadium’s Presidential suite from 8:00am till 15H00.

Amongst others, the team resolved to engage, following a proposed resolve, comrades believed to be standing for officials positions in the upcoming conference and are not in the view of the outlook suggested by the technical team.

In one of the engagements, when we engaged Cde Florence Radzilani, she defined what democracy means for all members of the ANC but beyond her understanding, she further appreciated the initiative given the material conditions the ANC finds itself in.

She committed, that she will engage the comrades who have been lobbying her to return to office but she values the fact that at this point in time, each member must pause and ask ;”What does the ANC stand to lose if not me?” 

Fast forward, when the 27th March 2026 arrived, 99% of delegates at the Provincial conference were ready to rally behind a view of this technical committee as it also lobbied them prior conference.

On the opening day of the conference, the ANC had affirmed for the first time in history of Limpopo, a female Provincial Chairperson and an uncontested officials. 

In the country, few weeks before this date, the membership of the ANC had anticipated the Provincial conferences of Eastern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. Only Limpopo and North West sat in this weekend but Limpopo delivered uncontested officials.

This happens when the ANC has dropped below 50% electoral performance and all of us had to choose to either “Renew or Perish, Unite or be defeated” as Cde John Mpe would say. Delegates of this conference chose to unite for a renewal agenda. 

One walked out of that conference with Pride to have formed part of a lobby group that suggested unity and stood by the view to the latter. Beyond all, proud to have been a leader of the ANCYL to have refused to confuse populism with radicalism.

Popular to the expectations, one would have gone rogue and pronounced one candidate over the other especially on the Provincial Chairperson’s position. But we refused to be in the history books of pronouncing slate politics when the ANC faced challenges. 

In the interests of our people, the new Provincial Chairperson agrees with Thomas Sankara that the current material conditions requires an element of craziness in order to attend to all burning issues of service delivery. She further prepared us to be ready for the energy of both herself and the deputy Chairperson.

This is as more refreshing as the fresh air of the Peter Mokaba stadium’s open space on a day without games. Indeed we have a reason to hope.

Phineas Sebola writes in his personal capacity as a member of the ANC