Durban - Future National Freedom Party councillors older than 40-years of age could find themselves in the political wilderness assigned to grand parenting duties, the party said on Wednesday.
Party president Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi said that not only would the party seek to ensure that half of all its candidates for the upcoming local government election in 2016 are female, but the majority needed to be younger than 40, her spokesman Canaan Mdletshe said.
“We want to go beyond gender parity by making sure that the majority of our councillors are people below the ages of 40. Young people are naturally vibrant and will certainly be vocal in raising relevant issues affecting the electorate,” she said.
She said that older councillors who were meant to be looking after the needs of their electorate were mostly finding themselves torn between looking after their constituency and looking after their grandchildren.
“Councillors themselves are caught-up between looking after their grandchildren and serving the people. So as the momentum towards the 2016 Local Government Elections is building up, we commit to the age limit of 40 for all NFP candidates,” she said.
When the 40-year age limit would be implemented, was not revealed by the statement. It was also not revealed how the decision was reached by the party and if there was in fact any meeting of the party’s structures.
KaMagwaza-Msibi, who is also the deputy minister for science and technology, has not been seen in public since she was ill on November 16. According to some media reports at the time, the 53-year old suffered a stroke, but the official word has been that she was suffering from fatigue.
KaMagwaza-Msibi was the former chairperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party, but left the party to form the NFP shortly before the 2011 local government elections in which her party secured 2.4 percent of the vote. In last year’s national election, the party secured 1.57 percent of the vote, securing six seats in the National Assembly. It also secured six seats in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.
It was after that election kaMagwaza-Msibi was appointed deputy minister by President Jacob Zuma.
ANA