Julius Malema is a raw and intuitive talker while Cope's guru is ... er, too polished and a self-made thinker

I want to make a crude and slightly unfair comparison to contrast the caliber of youth leadership in the ANC Youth League and Cope’s youth wing.

Political bodies are, largely, the lengthened shadow of their leading personalities and thus Julius Malema and JJ Tabane, for instance, represent and reflect the faces of their organisations.

You see, what these two youngsters (if I may call them that) represent is the quality of leadership that has been produced since 1994. In Malema you find a historical product that comes from the era of the comrades who were shaped and molded by unwavering commitment to the total liberation of all African people. He possesses and continues the vibrant tradition of a struggle culture that was at its height in the late1980s.

The “young lions”, as they were called, were foot soldiers of the ANC who were prepared to lay down their lives for freedom and democracy. They truly believed in the “liberation now, education later” creed.

With JJ you find the new “1996 class project” comrade who was nurtured in sophisticated university lecture halls with a bourgeoisie critical consciousness. This is a polished professional who is comfortable in corporate boardrooms and expensive mansions. There is no vital connection with the grassroots except in a high-flying position. He epitomises the accomplished individual professional who would have lived a middle class lifestyle even if apartheid was in existence.

While a Julius pursues reckless political pronouncements that give him radical credibility, you find that JJ is diplomatic and cautious in his political self-adjustment.

If you start to think in this way about the contrasting youth at the political leadership helm, it becomes clear why the ANC has split into two: one half grounded among the ordinary, semi-illiterate people with the other indeterminate part creeping into the world of the Haves who Want More. The difference between JM and JJ, for me, points to a fundamental symptom of the cause of division in the ANC.

To a large extent, the split is between those who have nothing and those who have but want more. JM is from a struggle history and background that is intuitively connected to the needs of the poor. In contrast, JJ is principally a self-accomplished individual who thinks he knows what is best for everybody. The military gear that Julius wears to Jacob Zuma’s court appearances reveals deep commitment and unwavering support to a “man of the people”. But JJ Tabane’s expensive designer suits symbolise a young conservative who believes in personal success and achievement.

Essentially, Julius is the sort of guy who blindly believes that everybody deserves a better quality of life while JJ is pragmatic enough to realise that the notion of equality is a nation-building myth.

What endears Julius to ordinary youths in the rural areas and townships is that he is unapologetic and expresses truth as known by the African majority. In contrast, JJ tends to emphasise class differences among Africans and admits that the truth is a very complex matter.

Perhaps what stands out most strikingly about Julius is that he expresses authentic anger and truth that most Africans can relate to. One even gets the impression that he is greatly misunderstood by the media because the media itself is, largely, removed and alienated from the conditions that he comes from. But Julius is perceived to be rightly angry at the injustice that has been perpetrated against the most popular leader of the ANC right now. In stark contrast, JJ can easily be mistaken for someone who is eager to pose for the Sunday Times and other glossy, upmarket publications. This makes him come across as someone who is hungry for status and invests too much time and energy in creating a particular image about himself as a communications guru. And when he answers questions, he is savvy, elusive and you never get to understand where he stands.

In crude terms, Julius is personal and angry while JJ is more performance and self-aggrandising. In fact, they are two sides of a split ANC coin.

In terms of solutions, perhaps Julius needs to work on taming his aggressive political talk. Of course, he remains a humble ordinary folk who still has time to learn from his mistakes for which he is forgiven. In contrast, JJ is self-assured, confident and cosmopolitan. He bristles with new age sophistication that calls excessive attention to status and achievement.

It is in this context that the failure of the ANC leadership, largely, lies in managing the two types of youth who have come up from its ranks since 1994. The best solution would be for Julius and JJ to spend more time together. In fact, it is only when they live together as brothers in one organisation, preferably their mother body, that neither of them can perish.