Issued by: JOINT YOUTH FORUM
PACYO, IFPYB, DA Youth, SAYRO, BCY, CYA and NGO

As member organisations of the South African Youth Commission we report with dismay the failure of the SAYC Durban Conference currently in progress at City Hall in Durban.

When the conference started our expectations were that we were going to follow SAYC’s invitation communiqué to all member organisations, which stated that we should interact, discuss youth development issues and policy formulation. Yet, some members of the SAYC NEC imposed some decisions on the plenary which we believe to be politically motivated. They further advised delegates to sing revolutionary songs of the ruling party.

We believe that this conduct compromised the slogan of SAYC to be non-partisan, non-politically aligned and or religiously orientated.

Yesterday, June 14, 2005, the conference was disrupted by the announcement made by the President, the Hon Thabo Mbeki, that Deputy President Jacob Zuma would be relieved of his post. The deliberations of the conference were halted by ANCYL/YCL demonstrations in the streets.

Our organisations welcome President Thabo Mbeki’s pronouncement on Jacob Zuma. We are therefore highly disappointed by the conduct of Sizwe Shezi, SAYC President, and his NEC to invite the former Deputy President to address the conference, even though there are serious allegations against him.

This issue now becomes:- how is he going to address the event and in which capacity?

The SAYC NEC has failed youth formations that are not aligned to the ANC by placing them in the centre of an internal ANC party issue and reducing the policy conference to an ANCYL/YCL consultation summit.

The statement by the SAYC that says that youth supports Jacob Zuma is out of order as the SAYC is a multi-party forum.

We would therefore call on all youth in our country to submit their views to the SAYC and not wait until decisions and pronouncements are imposed on them.

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