African National Congress Youth League
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress. As set out in its constitution the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NWC).
Foundation
Its foundation in 1944 by Ashley Peter Mda, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo marked the rise of a new generation of leaders. The first President of the league was Anton Lembede who shaped its militancy. Mandela wrote that Lembede had a "magnetic personality who thought in original and often startling ways" and "Like Lembede I came to see the antidote as militant African nationalism. Lembede died in 1947.
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.
