Political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu hailed the appointment of the 40-year-old Ronald Lamola (pictured) as Minister of International Relations and Co-operation. | Supplied
NOLUTHANDO DLAMINI
Durban — The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Political Studies and International Relations lecturer Zakhele Ndlovu has expressed his disappointment that there were only seven ministers under the age of 45 in the recently announced cabinet.
He said the ANC has done a poor job of grooming young leaders because people like Angie Motshekga should be retired by now and she has already served in the Cabinet for a very long time.
“We need to be producing younger leaders who will take the country forward,” said Ndlovu.
However, he was impressed by the appointment of the 40-year-old Ronald Lamola as Minister of International Relations. Ndlovu said that many countries around the world were appointing more and more young people as foreign ministers, adding that for him, the portfolio of International Relations does require someone with a lot of energy as it involves a lot of travelling.
Ndlovu also questioned the criteria used by the president to select ministers. He questioned the moving of Motshekga from Basic Education to the Defence Ministry.
“You can’t have someone like Angie in basic education and all of a sudden she is in defence, we need someone with expertise. We took a school teacher Bheki Cele and make him minister of police which makes you wonder what criteria is being used. In the US, you won’t be appointed secretary of defence if you don’t have a military background,” said Ndlovu.
Also weighing in, political analyst Thabile Mdhluli said she found the representation of young people also inadequate and said it was evident that a fresh, vibrant innovative body was needed to lead some portfolios.
“For succession purposes, I would have suggested young people be given deputy ministerial positions where a young person is not the head. Our greatest challenge is that we have people put in ministerial positions who do not have the relevant qualifications and or skills to lead or provide direction whereas there are young people who are capable of leading who are sidelined and not given a chance,” said Mdhluli.
The Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans award winner, Enzokuhle Sabela, said he is happy to see younger faces in the cabinet as this shows great progress.
He said, “It would have been great for someone between the ages of 18 and 35 but we can’t just have such a huge amount of change in such a short space of time,” said Sabela.
However, Sabela commended the Patriotic Alliance (PA) for representing the youth admirably.
“They have shown to be a transformative party, quite progressive party and I appreciate that it came from them as opposed to other parties. But I am quite happy, change doesn’t come overnight and as we progress into the seventh administration, going into the eighth administration, things are looking up for young people and things are working out for the best,” said Sabela.
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