The ANC Youth League, including its president Collen Maine, said it wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to include a substantial number of young people when he appoints his Cabinet.
Maine, who is the former North West Province Local Government and Human Settlements MEC, said Ramaphosa should deliver 20% youth representation, which was a resolution of the 2017 Nasrec conference.
“We expect that when the president appoints his Cabinet he will take 20% into consideration because that is the resolution of the ANC,” said Maine.
He said the ANC should adapt to the reality of that the majority of the country’s population were young people
“Therefore it (ANC) should give young people a responsibility, and young people would bring new ideas.
“Most of the ministers have been there since 1994, and it's time that young people are also given an opportunity because that resonate well with the majority of the country’s population,” he said.
When asked if the league had raised the issue with the ANC, he said: “I cannot report to the media if we have consulted with the mother or not.”
EThekwini ANCYL spokesperson Thulisa Ndlela said the generation of 1994 in the cabinet should now be deployed to other responsibilities other than the cabinet.
“Others can be chairpersons of portfolio committees. For example Lindiwe Sisulu can be a chair of the human settlement committee and work with whoever will be a minister in that department.
“If Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma can head monitoring and evaluation of the ANC at Luthuli House she would be able to share her knowledge both in South Africa and even in Africa,” said Ndlela.
Ndlela said senior comrades were no longer energetic “like Nkosazana was 20 years ago”.
“They are tired and they should be used in a different capacity so that they can share their wisdom.
“If they are deployed to the ANC, they are going to offer institutional memory, and they are going to help the young ones to be able to implement guided by these ones. You cannot have an old age home cabinet,” said Ndlela.
Although the SACP supported the idea of giving young people government responsibility, its KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Themba Mthembu said experienced leaders should not be compromised in the cabinet.
“That is also what we as the SACP want to see, but maturity and experience counts in government.
“You cannot compromise maturity and experience in the name of elevating young blood, that is crazy,”
“There are many other things in which we can channel young blood in order to uplift the economy because pushing the young blood at the expense of the broader social and economic issues would be a big mistake,” said Mthembu.