League’s Collen Malatji urges youth to contest elections

The ANC Youth League has called for more young people to contest as ward councillors in the upcoming local government elections. Youth league president Collen Malatji said it concerned the league that there was a continued collapse of local government and a serious failure to provide basic services to communities. Malatji called for all municipal managers and mayors of underperforming, collapsed and non-functioning municipalities, as flagged by the auditor-general, to be axed immediately.

“Kwazulu-Natal is worst. There is no water or roads but the municipalities continuously return money to the National Treasury. Fire these useless mayors and managers.

For example, uMhlathuzi municipality and one municipality at Mzala Nxumalo have totally collapsed under the IFP.” In a post-NEC (national executive committee) media briefing of the structure, the league secretary-general, Tsakani Shiviti, echoed the sentiments, saying the plan was to embark on a campaign to field young councillors across municipalities ahead of the polls. “The ‘mocha palong’ slogan is part of a programme of the youth league, to include young people in governance and to deploy them to councils. We need to participate in areas of responsibility.

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We are going to the elections and, in preparation, we have launched the Peter Mokaba brigade [with] volunteers. Our veterans had their fair chance, they have led, they were mayors and councillors in their time, and we believe that it is time for the new generation to take over the ANC and governance, to take South Africa further. Shiviti believes an energetic councillor can bridge the widening gap between public representatives and their communities, as well as attempt to intervene in service-delivery efforts and outcomes.

“Some of the people who become our councillors might have been slow in delivering services because of old age, and sometimes they are unable to reach our people. We are saying that all our members and young people must avail themselves to participate as councillor candidates in the election. “We start rallying now, so that they can start the processes of [making] lists so that we can enter and fast-track service delivery.” Shiviti poured cold water on claims that the party may approach seasoned leaders to return to the local government sphere to stabilise it.

“The ANC does not need to go and fetch veterans to become mayors. They can serve as advisers to the leadership and the mayors who are there. We have capacity, we have a lot of young people who are capable of being mayors and councillors.

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