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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.
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.
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.
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. Fikile Mbalula, an activist since the 1980s, is its current President as of 2005.
However in recent months the Youth League has largely discredited itself with its unwavering support of discredited politician Jacob Zuma. This is largely due to the abrasive and belligerent style of politics of its leader Fikile Mbalula. It has also had a number of its members implicated in the shady dealings of slain mining magnate Brett Kebble.
The Youth League is seen today as nothing more than a stepping stone into government for those who know the right people and are willing to compromise on their principles in order to remain in favour with future ANC leaders.

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★ 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.

★ Black Political Thought in the Making of South African Democracy, , C.R.D., Halisi, Indiana University Press, , ISBN 0-253-33589-2