The Congress of the People´s Makhado branch is accusing the Makhado Municipality of turning government events into African National Congress Youth League rallies.

This comes after the Makhado Municipality´s Youth Council held a memorial lecture at the Makhado Show Grounds two weeks ago as part of the Youth Month celebrations. Only members of the ANCYL were bussed in from various parts of the municipality to attend the event. The regional chairperson of the ANC in Vhembe, Cllr Falaza Mdaka, also spoke on behalf of the ANC and addressed ANC matters.

"It was a government event funded by the municipality and not an ANC event," said the concerned Congress of the People´s councillor at the municipality, Cllr Edward Malima.

Malima said last Monday that the Cope branch was unhappy with the way things were being run in the youth council. "The chairperson of the ANC cannot be a guest speaker at a youth event, talking about ANC matters. Youth Month is not for the ANC," he said.

According to Malima, it is unfair for the municipality to authorize expenditure for an event of this nature. "We will take it up with the accounting officer. We are going to table the matter for the next council meeting, so that we can get the correct figures on how much of taxpayers´ money had been used," said Malima.

A youth officer at the municipality, Mr Livhuwani Rangolo, told Mirror that he had invited ANCYL members because they were the only ones who were there in June 1976. This fact is disputed by Cope, who argues that the late Mr Steve Biko was also there as a student leader and a member of the Black Consciousness Movement. He was not a member of the ANC.

"Even though it is not known how much money the municipality used during the event, what one can tell is that buses and two catering events were paid for by the municipality," said Malima. "A youth council is comprised of young people from all parts of the municipality, regardless of race, gender or political affiliation. It coordinates participatory mechanisms that enable young people in the community to express their points of view."

The youth council also deals with youth development issues and the challenges that young people face, such as unemployment, drug abuse, and HIV and Aids. According to Malima, none of these is happening in the Makhado Municipality´s youth council.

When contacted for comment, the Makhado municipal spokesperson, Mr Louis Bobodi, said that it was the municipality´s responsibility to promote youth events. "We do not associate our youth events with political parties, but with all young people located within our municipality," he said.

Bobodi added that it was just unfortunate that the person who was invited as guest speaker at the event was Cllr Mdaka, who happened to be the regional chairperson of the ANC. "As the municipality, we cater for all young people in our municipality. Mdaka was invited because he has knowledge on youth issues," said Bobodi.