Ruling ANC sorely needs new blood

There’s an argument that society devalues the expertise and worth of older people and in some sectors, like advertising, you are well over the hill at 40.

In contemporary South Africa, politics seems to be the post-retirement home of choice for the oldies who are not so much golden, as coated with the rust of ages…

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the ruling ANC, where only one member of Cabinet – Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola – is under 40. The bulk of our ministers are older than 60 and some even in their 70s.

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President Cyril Ramaphosa is 69. It was, therefore, ironic to hear Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula – she who had an controversial career as a highly ineffective defence minister – saying that it’s about time our older leaders “create space” for young people as public representatives.

They could then “pursue youth issues”, she said on the sidelines of a parliamentary conference in Spain. Did she volunteer to set the ball rolling by offering her resignation? What do you think?

The ANC needs new blood. Whether the new blood will be competent is another matter, given that ANC Youth League leaders promoted to higher ranks have mostly been useless.