The faction of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) that successfully campaigned for the league's disbandment, has rejected the national task team that has been installed, calling it misguided.

ANC secretary general Ace Magashule announced the league's disbandment on Tuesday, following the party's national executive committee (NEC) meeting over the weekend.

In an open letter to the NEC shortly after, the faction said it had emphasised the need for the NEC to constitute a structure of young people between the ages of 14 and 35, with a single mandate to convene a national congress within a strict time frame.

"In view of this principled framework of our campaign, we have noted with absolute bewilderment the decision of the ANC NEC to appoint an ANC team to take charge of the affairs of the ANCYL.

"Our view is that this decision is against the political momentum that we are currently galvanising toward - the revival of a credible and independent ANCYL with sufficient public legitimacy to take up issues of young people.

"The ANC NEC has surprisingly escalated the legitimacy crisis of the ANCYL by disbanding the eldership and replacing it with a seniorship."

The committee appointed NEC member Tandi Mahambehlala as convener and the head of presidency, Sibongile Besani, as co-ordinator. 

Some of the other names on the list of task team members include Collen Maine, Njabulo Nzuza, Reggie Nkabinde, Dakota Logoete, Zizi Kodwa, Pule Mabe, Ronald Lamola, Faith Muthambi, Lindiwe Zulu, Pinky Kekana, Fikile Mbalula, David Masondo, Desmond Moela, Thandi Moroka, Nomvula Mokonyane, Nathi Mthethwa, Senzo Mchunu, Lulu Johnson, Malusi Gigaba and Febe Potgieter.

During the conference, deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte said the NEC appointed people who had organisational memory "because the only mandate of this task team is to take the youth league to the conference".

'They are old'

However, the youth league revival faction said the task team was incapable of delivering an outcome that would help the league reverse its legitimacy crisis.

"They are old, are not members of the ANCYL and carry the inherent accusation of trying to sponsor ANC factional interests to the ANCYL. This is, of course, with historical experience to back our sentiment in this regard," the members said.

They said the same task team failed to take them to conference last year. 

"Nothing will be different now and, other things considered, they are likely to be worse since some of them are serving as members of the national executive and Cabinet in government. Worse off, the ANC leadership returns the eldership of Maine and Nzuza to preside over a process that spectacularly defeated them when they were still carrying a constitutional mandate.

"This approach to the task team is politically unwise and leaves us with the impression that the ANC leadership does not take the congress youth league seriously. We therefore reject this [task team] of seniorship as a misguided intervention. We will announce our course of action in due course."