The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress. Its foundation in 1944 by Anton Muziwakhe Lembede (1914-1947), Ashley Peter Mda, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo marked the rise of a new generation of leadership of South Africa's black African population. It developed a manifesto in 1944 and published a program in 1948. For political parties with similar names in other countries, see Northern Rhodesian African National Congress and Zambian African National Congress. ... The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) encompasses socialist and social democratic youth organizations from more than 100 states of the world. ... The World Federation of Democratic Youth is a youth organization, recognized by the United Nations as an international youth non-governmental organization. ... For political parties with similar names in other countries, see Northern Rhodesian African National Congress and Zambian African National Congress. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other people named Mandela, or other uses, see Mandela. ... Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (May 18, 1912 – May 5, 2003) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). ... Oliver Reginald Tambo (27 October 1917 - 24 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and a central figure in the African National Congress (ANC). ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

By the end of the 1940s, the Youth League had gained control of the African National Congress. It called for civil disobedience and strikes in protest at the hundreds of laws associated with the new apartheid system. These protests were often met with force by the South African Government. In 1950, 18 blacks were killed during a walkout while protesters including Mandela were jailed and beaten for their opposition to the Government. A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ...

Thabo Mbeki became active in the Youth League in 1956 and was expelled from high school in 1959 as a result of participation in a strike. In 1959 many ANCYL members broke away to form the rival Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). In 1960, the PAC, ANC and its associated organisations had been banned. Mbeki organised a stay-at-home in protest at the South African Government's decision to leave the Commonwealth of Nations before leaving South Africa at the suggestion of the ANC. Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki ,KStJ [2][3] (born June 18, 1942)[2] is the current President of the Republic of South Africa. ... The Commonwealth of Nations as of 2008. ...

The Youth League continued its activities underground during the remainder of the apartheid years. In 1990, F. W. de Klerk legalised the ANC and its associated organisations including the Youth League, and Peter Mokaba led the newly unbanned Youth League. President F.W. de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk (born March 18, 1936) is a former President of South Africa, serving from September 1989 to May 1994. ...

Fikile Mbalula, an activist since the 1980s and President of the league since 2005, stepped down in 2008. The election of a successor descended into chaos and the appointment of Julius Malema is still in dispute.^[1]

The Youth League generated significant controversy in 2008 when its president publicly declared its willingness to seek violence in support of Jacob Zuma's extra judicial acquittal of corruption charges, stating that the Youth League was prepared "prepared to take up arms and kill for Zuma".

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References

• African National Congress Youth League
• "Nelson Mandela." Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 14. Gale Research, 1997. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2005. retrieved 5 December 2005
• "Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki." Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 14. Gale Research, 1997. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2005.
• Halisi, C.R.D. (1999-11-01). Black Political Thought in the Making of South African Democracy. Indiana University Press, 62. ISBN 0-253-33589-2.