The ANC Youth League in Limpopo has called on Premier Stan Mathabatha to reshuffle his provincial cabinet and bring more young people on board.
The youth league’s target is to get its provincial chairperson Tonny Rachoene to become an MEC because he has “the necessary energy and skills to turn around any provincial department”.
ANCYL provincial secretary Oliver Mabunda said this week that the league’s executive in Limpopo was worried that when boards and SOEs appoint members, young people are constantly sidelined.
This even though they have the necessary skills and qualifications to serve the people.
Consequently, the league wants an audit throughout the province on the compliance of the boards of departments and SOEs with the principle of 25% youth representation.
“Furthermore, we resolved that the premier must urgently establish a youth advisory board in the province to deal broadly with the interests of young people and ensure that those interests are catered for.
“We also urge the premier to follow the examples of other provinces that created a department for youth and people living with a disability, which we believe must also be led by a young MEC as that will be a step towards the renewal of the movement.
Mabunda said the league’s branches called for an urgent evaluation of the performance of MECs, mayors and executives because they are worried that some of them are performing poorly in their deployments.
He said the evaluation should be viewed in the context of better service delivery to the people.
“Still, for now, there’s nothing, they also turned short-term commitments to long-term solutions and many others, to mention a few.
“When they are found wanting they should be taken to task. Gone are those days when deployees fail to perform without any repercussions.”
The league, he said, was also gearing up for a highly competitive election season next year and in response the league planned to increase its visibility and outreach by focusing on issues facing young people.
In an effort to boost the ANC’s numbers, he said, the league’s core message would be to ensure that young people’s voices are heard at the ballot box. The campaign strategy looks to keep young people engaged and aware of the ANC’s policies and campaigns, he said.
The league planned to rally its members and supporters in schools, technical colleges and universities, saying they were confident the governing party’s policies resonated with these voters.
Mabunda said the league branches throughout Limpopo would also run voter registration programmes in their respective wards and voting districts. This is “to get as many young people as possible registered to vote for the ANC”.
“In this coming election, the ANC will be carried through on the shoulders of the youth league. Being mindful of the high youth unemployment and apathy we will have to dig deep into our youth’s mass character to travel a journey with the youth and champion the interests of our strata,” Mabunda said.
He said youth unemployment in the province was sitting at a disheartening 65% and the league would organise young people to march to the provincial government and the mining chamber to demand redress before the end of this month.
The demands would include that the provincial government immediately come up with a programme of action on how to reduce the huge youth unemployment numbers in the province, he said.
“We also demand that all municipality youth officer posts must be filled urgently by June month end.
“The ANCYL will also invite all youth to come to the march with their CVs and qualifications to demonstrate that they are sitting at home with many capabilities that can assist in innovative ways to improve the current situation and prepare a better future for the youth.”
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