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3 weeks ago
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ANC Youth League secretary-general Mntuwoxolo Ngudle and ANCYL president Collen Malatji.
- The ANC Youth League recently begged ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula to ratify an early elective conference amid infighting.
- That decision appears to have boomeranged to bite the “young lions”, as the youth wing is known.
- The ANC has called a crisis meeting to manage the tensions between ANCYL president Collen Malatji and secretary-general Mntuwoxolo Ngundle, who have suspended one another.
The ANC Youth League’s top brass, president Collen Malatji and secretary-general Mntuwoxolo Ngundle, have suspended one another in a power struggle for structure’s soul, which is intensifying just weeks before an elective congress.
Earlier on Friday, News24 reported seeing a letter, signed by Ngundle, and addressed to the structures’ rank and file, informing them of Malatji’s suspension, which was endorsed by a faction in the national executive committee.
The factionalism in the ANCYL intensified after Malatji announced, during the youth league’s national general council in Kimberley in September, that he was pushing secretary-general Fikile Mbalula to ratify an early elective conference.
Mbalula obliged and the conference is set to take place in December.
Malatji’s suspension by the structure’s NEC comes after News24 reported about tensions between Malatji and Ngudle.
The suspension is rooted in claims that Malatji “unilaterally convened a parallel meeting” and “misled all our structures” in terms of his role as president, according to the letter.
READ | ANC Youth League leaders clash at NEC over conference readiness
The said meeting allegedly excluded Ngudle and treasurer-general Zwelo Masilela in preparations for the 27th national congress to be held in Limpopo in December.
News24 also understands from sources that Malatji has also suspended Ngudle, and that the two suspensions led to Luthuli House calling an urgent meeting to sit down with the warring factions.
In the letter, Ngudle said: “The NEC convened on the 20th of November 2025 resolved to immediately suspend the president of the ANCYL cde Collen Malatji pending [an] investigation. The suspension is consistent with Schedule A of the constitution of the ANCYL.”
He added:
The president unilaterally convened a parallel meeting of the ANCYL and misled all our structures in terms of the role of the president.
“Furthermore, the president facilitated the exclusion of the secretary-general and the treasurer-general in preparations for the 27th national congress as mandated by the National General Council. In fact, he confirmed the exclusion in an official meeting of the ANCYL, citing mistrust.”
By doing so, Ngudle said, Malatji’s conduct was a “deliberate act aimed at undermining the policies of the organisation and weakening its fighting capacity”.
He added that Malatji’s misconduct violated Article 2.2.2, which refers to “intent to destroy the integrity of the organisation, its personnel, property, or its organisational capacity”.
Malatji’s conduct allegedly:
- Sabotages the activities of the youth league;
- Creates divisions within its ranks;
- Impedes its proper functioning; and
- Commits any other act calculated to undermine the effectiveness of the organisation.
In his letter, Ngudle said: “In the period of precautionary suspension, the president is not allowed to represent the organisation in any official platform/ public/ media or appear in any other platform representing the organisation.
“The NEC has [urged] the national disciplinary committee to speedily resolve and put this matter to finality.”
News24 has been reliably told that the mother body has called an urgent meeting to find a solution to the issue.
READ | Collen Malatji poised for second term as ANCYL gears up for conference
A well-placed source said: “The source of the issues is that Malatji is going ahead as planned and Ngudle is against the conference. He fears he will be removed. He’s not strong [when it comes to numbers].
“If the conference goes ahead as planned, he fears he’ll be removed. Ngudle is trying to avoid the imminent loss. Right now, there is a meeting with the ANC.
“The purpose of that is to resolve the impasse as it’s embarrassing.
“Ngudle is being disruptive to that agenda [of an elective conference sitting in December] and now there is fighting. [Treasurer-general] Zwelo Masilele is with Ngudle. Collen suspended Ngudle and Ngudle suspended Collen.”
Malatji recently confirmed to News24 the ANCYL’s differences of opinion, while Ngudle, who will be beyond the 35 age limit after the conference, denied he was holding on to power, saying: “I don’t need politics to survive.”
