ANCYL statement on the new Cabinet announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa

27 February 2018

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) warmly welcomes the new Cabinet as announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday evening. We wish all the newly appointed Ministers well in their responsibilities, and we expect them to discharge their mandate with revolutionary precision; humility and with deep love for our people.

We expect this new Cabinet to vigorously pursue an agenda, informed by ANC’s 54th National Conference outcomes; and SoNA commitments to create decent jobs, especially for the youth of this country, currently ravaged by poverty and squalor in working class Townships and former Bantustans.

Our key interest as the Youth League we want to see big business suspending its self-imposed de-investment strike so that much needed jobs could be created in order to defeat the triple crisis of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

Whilst we broadly welcome the appointment of the new Cabinet, as constituted by men and women of upright standing and long years of service to the ANC and the people of South Africa, in pursuit to build a better life for all. The ANCYL is however quite disappointed that a number of able and capable youth leaders, currently serving as Members of Parliament (MPs), and those playing a key role outside of government were overlooked and not considered by President Ramaphosa.

The ANC should start now taking it youth members seriously and assign it serious positions of power and responsibility, because we represent the second layer leadership of the ANC and the country at large. By doing so, the ANC will be investing in it future, other parties are doing same. When we speak about renewal we are also speaking about having trust and faith in youth leadership in the organization and the State.

Even though we respect President Ramaphosa’s prerogative right as prescribed in the Constitution to appoint members of the Executive, we strongly feel he should have assembled a well-balanced Executive drawn from both the old and the new.

As the ANCYL we are concern about the invitation of cde Nhlanhla Nene to return to where he was. We think that his invitation coming from private sector might create a perception that white monopoly capital remains in control of treasury. The ANCYL leadership collective will seek a bilateral with the ANC’s Top Six around our concerns and solicit a better way of making sure that concerns of the Youth League, always find expression in relation to deployments made by the ANC in line with the ANC decision of 20% as agreed in the last National General Council.

Issued by Mlondi Mkhize, National Spokesperson, ANCYL, 27 February 2018