"The Rise and fall of the ANC Youth League by Rebone Tau" book review.

An organisation that does not know its history is like a compass without a needle, a body without a soul, a barren sparse land without vegetation virtually just a thing, a wandering soul without a place of residence. The lack of trajectory affects the identity of the organisation, the organisation becomes an oasis for buzzards, vultures, parasites, and the damned. This then reflects and pours negatively on the people that depend on guidance from the organisation. The corrupt and the damned witness any form of appointment as a money-making scheme bootlicking wheel and ass-kissing conveyor belt. The cataclysmic results of such a vile and toxic environment. The mission statement of the organisation is eroded the effects are not felt at the top or the middle. The effects are felt by the masses those that make up the base of the societal pyramid. These are your professionals of any sort, students, children, servicemen, and organs of the state will eventually fall ill. Today I take dive into the literary work by Rebone Tau, "The Rise and fall of the ANC Youth League". I look at this body of literature from a bystander's point of view; someone that is seated around the fire and listening to the tales of yesterday and then reflects on how they are manifesting themselves today and beyond.  I look at this body of literature through the lenses of a history fan, an individual that is in search of understanding intimately its place in this reality. My generation is at a crossroads whereby globalisation is at an all-time high. There is a mass exodus of people from various places as they are in search of safe-havens. Places where they can become themselves, in that whim and wind of physical displacement. Identity politics become the mainstay in anyone's view of their world, I explicitly convey the idea of searching and understanding where is the African, who is the African, how is the African. My generation is at an epoch where African voices due to the global gaze "going viral", have become the new frontier of epistemological preservation and fifteen seconds of fame. The core of being or becoming is slowly being eroded. In essence, we have become a mass or herd of the walking cadavers that yearn and crave the freshest brains to devour, the cataclysmic reality is that the mainstay that has brought and defined the African in this era and beyond has slowly become vagabonds that yearn for the attention of the marbles of men, forgetting the viper that lies in the cavern of men. My generation is poised at a transitional phase where some are second-generation after independence from one end, and others are third and fourth generation after "independence". The epistemology and discourse between the two or three generations are different. In that observation, the effect is that it is a broken telephone situation. The dangers of it all are that the lack of basis of observation or reference results in a tantamounting catastrophe, the conversation of emancipation of the black men that have been forced to become a pariah in their own land becomes a marred and distorted one. In the face of changes as time consumes itself before one knows it. The black agenda that was started in earnest by the class of 1963 becomes a joke, a farce, a humiliation to all the efforts that have been invested by the foremothers and forefathers of this continent. 

Therefore Tau-, comes into the picture with a body of literature that yearns, reflects, and consciously bemoans the catastrophe that has fallen before the once-revered political party that birthed Africa. Icons such as Oliver Reginald Tambo, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, Winnefred Madikizela-Mandela, Solomon "Solly" Mahlangu, and Nelson Mandela, among others. 

Bob Marley sang the following lyrics, "everyone has the right to decide their own destiny" the reggae crooner furthermore then says, "emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind", the incorporation of the reggae crooner in this episode serves as the mulch or launching pad from the moon to the infinite universe hopefully beyond this galaxy of epistemological examination. Through the exploration of Tau's literature and attempting to extrapolate the conscious conversation behind the body of literature and from a non-partisan point of view this work best serves as a good read that allows one eager mind that seeks to understand not the ANC, but the vast extensive sparse of the political landscape of South Africa. The initial observation from this regard is that Tau's work may serve you the reader a glimpse into understanding the reasons as to why certain political parties react in their certain particular manner. If you are into business or would love to venture into business in South Africa one day the Tau literature is one of the many bodies of knowledge you ought to consult before venturing into any venture. 

In my time so far in South Africa interacted with my colleagues and shared scopes around curriculums and the length of how one should spend in school and which modules could or must a pupil be exposed to. Extensively History is one of the modules that is emphasised in Zimbabwe, every pupil that goes through the ZIMSEC syllabus they are expected to undertake history from the beginning of secondary school until they finish their secondary school. Transitioning to high school is when pupils get to choose if they are willing to pursue history or not. The point that I am delivering to the fray is that when Zimbabwe attained its independence away from the Smith regime. The then government of Robert Mugabe understood that the epistemology of Zimbabwe should go through a rapid overhaul "DeColonisation". In order to safeguard the fragile minds of the citizenry from the effects of not knowing their own past. Others would suggest it was a bid to consolidate a one-party state campaign to keep all in line and whatever endeavor that the Mugabe regime would pursue it would not be objected to. One case in point as a suggestion is the accelerated land reform program from 1998 to 2004. The accelerated land reform program submitted the fertile conversation around African Law and the inherited Roman-Dutch Law, as a legal system that emphasises the preservation of the private property rights of the white minority that has over time benefited from an unfair legal system that disregarded the voices of the African. Thus when Mugabe and his party removed Anthony Gubbay subsequently capturing the judiciary the interests of the Africans were championed and the Accelerated land reform program was given the free route to manifest itself. In the name of restoring the dignity of the African as history has and had proven itself time and time again that the Africans have been at the mercy of the imperialists. In one's suggestion, the consciousness of the Zimbabwean was and is aware of the ineptitude that has come along with the legal system versus the African legal system. Acknowledging the effect of the Accelerated Land Reform Program it forsook the interests of the nation it championed the interests of the few, thus collapsing the economy of Zimbabwe to this day, and thus resulting in a classicist feudal system that only benefits those that believe that they have earned the moral high ground of determining the future of fifteen-million Zimbabweans. The point that I working around in this juncture is to submit the suggestion as to why history is not emphasised within the curriculum of South Africa, this reasoning can be understood in the following article: History to be made compulsory in school (2018). The exhibit's inclusion in this build-up is to point out the significance of the Tau literature. Upon getting to interacting with the piece of literature I sensed an aura or yearning of heart that is whispering and communicating the essence of identity. The importance of drawing inspiration from where did the ANC start and how did it develop itself to become public enemy number one during the height of the Apartheid government. The time travel that Tau offers to the reader is a metaphorical conversation around the significance of identity and the significance of time within the African society. Tau, to the reader, is reminding the reader that traces back your footsteps you will find your way back home. In a world where conflicting stories about the origins of an organisation and to some lengths bodies of literature are woven by persons that have to do nothing with the nation or the organisation. Tau is offering an alternative route to understanding the beginnings of the ANC as a political party. Tau also submits a point as I interpreted it speaks about the need to have more black voices that are willing to serve or offer up their time and tell the authentic, intentional cause of curating information for its own people. The scope of African literature juxtaposing it against the global modern world, is sixty-four years "Things fall apart". Comparing African literature versus the world, African literature is still young and there is a lot to unpack discuss, critique, expound, emphasise, churn, and correct. Therefore straddling a bit away from the political conversation. Drawing closer to praising the literary skill of composing and consolidating African stories and history Tau submits the much-needed skill in the black community and that is preserving information in accordance to the black lens.  

1944 plays as that need to amplify the juncture that catapulted the identity of the ANCYL, the league's formation was to form as the bridging gap between the main wing and the youth wing. In essence, the youth league played multiple roles in the status quo of keeping and servicing the role of the pro-black emancipation movement in South Africa at that time. Therefore we are brought to understand that the youth league was the training ground for the future of South Africa. The youth league was the ears and eyes of the youth at that time, the foot soldiers' purpose was to charge champion and solve the problems of the youth of South Africa at that time. Furthermore in understanding the thought process of Tau in weaving the body of work. The writer foreshadows the future by taking the reader back to the olden days where and when the league was in its infancy and it maintained its mandate of serving the youths of South Africa. 

Tau takes the reader on a trip down memory lane to the time when the youth leaguers were forced to go out in exile. The leaguers found refuge and training in countries such as Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Tanzania, among other states. The leaguers that were in exile carried out activities such as art as a movement into raising awareness of the social ills that had bedeviled the country at that time. The league served as a launching pad for artists such as Hugh Masekela among others that carried the mandate of discussing the ills that have bedeviled South Africa at that time. In exile, the leaguers have been portrayed as persons that emphasised the importance not only of art as a medium of focus for mental stimulation, but there were also reading programs involved in these camps. Thus from a reader's perspective the importance of literature, African literature decoding and understanding the use of language during a time when and where there was a massive brainwashing activity that would eventually incapacitate the black South African from being free mentally. The mentioning of exile camps outside South Africa, to one's suggestion, would be a subtle reminder to the community that no African is an Island. The struggles that experience another African are that of the next African, an echo of when Ghana attained her independence and the late Kwame Nkrumah said, "Ghana is not free until all African countries are free".

 

 As I was going through its pages I found myself being reminded of this phrase, "you need to know your history in order to know your place in this world", the literature emits Afro-surrealistic energy. Energy that reminds one and all that the African is living in a simulation and break away from the matrix and behold and brave to chart your own path. Therefore the ANCYL of yesterday was always at odds with their seniors "the main league". As the youth full of energy and zest were inspired to enact action and change there and then. However, the old order chose a more subtle approach to solving the issues of the greater South Africa. This then and was one of the many reasons that led to the emergence of parties such as the P.A.C. and fast forwarding to today the EFF. The Mister Malema-led party subsequently went away with a majority of the youth that the ANC relies on, in order to survive the tides of time. 

With a meditated and chewed to the bone understanding of the literature, it is worth noting that documentation of one's history. Is an arsenal for the one that is seeking, pursuing, and extracting the purpose, mission, and identity of an organisation in this view. We take a look at the design of the this is the colour choices, the text design invested. The concept invested in the design of the book, it emits a whispering voice that says "hey let's sit down and I will tell you, all you need to know about the ANCYL, also a crash course into South African history that is rarely told, furthermore, once you are done reading me you shall have more questions about yourself and the world around you".

This body of literature is a body that takes you on an information superhighway, which I managed to deduce further from the Tau literature. Is that the body of work that can be used in the ANCYL curriculum of party ideology. As the body of work carries the blueprint that is needed by the leaguers to make the right decisions that are based upon their own discretion and confront the old demons that lurk in the shadows so as to be bold and brave enough to safeguard the brand ANC. That has taken a knock over the past years. 

The chapter that stood out when I was going through the novel is chapters 3 & 4, the two chapters give us a picture of a movement that is experiencing a De Ja Vu of 1944. Tau foreshadows the future by communicating with the past in the early chapters as the writer takes and shows the reader that within the main league according to the writer. There was a rift in ideologies and charting the way forward for the party. The cause of the rift was based on the view of the path to take, some were choosing the more subtle route and others had chosen to take the radical route. This then was accelerated by the factions that had bedeviled ANC. 

As the world was gearing for the end of the world in 2012, the end of the world for the ANCYL was established when the main league ANC disbanded the ANCYL. The disbanding of the ANCYL in 2012 adversely shrunk the grip and reception of the brand ANC. In which firebrands such Mister Malema, Shivambu, among others. Walked away from the ANC include a legion of supporters which left the ANCYL scrounging for relevance and trying to find potential key players that would fill in the Malema void. Three years later "Fees Must Fall" the ANCYL was nowhere to be found, an opportunity that was ceased by Mister Malema's EFF. 

In observing the summary of the key chapters of this book Tau gives us an elaborated demise of the ANCYL and reminds the reader of the clash between the old guards and new guards.

In one's observation, I felt that there were key areas that could have been explored, I might be jumping the gun on the writer. However, I would like to know the role of the Mandela Football club that was led by Ma Winnie at that time. The role of people such Mcebo Dlamini during fees must fall in 2015/16, why has the ANCYL come out and stand with one of their own. There are a lot of questions and there is a potential for a volume, two or more. Finally, there are a lot of conversations that could be dug up and investigated further that might be linked with the downfall of the ANCYL. What has to be established is that this reader is the tip of the iceberg. I do not know but I can feel it...

The literature does leave the reader with some answered questions and hopes about the future and reminds the reader that there is still hope and the future for the party is still in safe hands. However, one of the main conversations that the writer and those that contributed is the consolidation and education of the newer generation. I sensed there is a gap between the old and new generation, harnessing the art of culture, especially music and poetry, most of all reading has been a culture that is being encouraged in the movement. Other than that the body of literature is a good read for the curious-minded ones.

Know your history and you will know your place in this world...