An executive council member of the African National Congress (ANC), Ronald Lamola has said the party should be placed in the hands of its young members.
Lamola is targeting becoming the next Deputy President of the strongly historic South African party.
As the ANC prepares to hold new elections in December, Lamola has been tipped to defeat current Deputy President, David Mabuza.
Lamola, addressing the Walter Sisulu memorial lecture told the gathering that some of the most popular and prominent leaders of the party in the past including apartheid hero and former President Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo began as young people.
He pointed that Sisulu, in whose memory the memorial lecture was held, became the ANC’s scribe at the age of 37, proving that positions and power isn’t set aside for a group of ages.
“Today, if a 37-year-old stood up to assert a new vision and a new culture in the ANC, people, say wait your turn, or you are too young.
“The reality is that historically the ANC became highly effective when young people such as Walter Sisulu, Lilian Ngoyi and Tambo took the responsibility of leading this organisation after it had become moribund.”
Lamola doubles as the South African Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and at 38, he’s viewed have an eye on Mabuza’s position.
An avid supporter of the current President, Cyril Ramaphosa, Lamola, 38 calls for deliberateness in the transition of powers in arguably Africa’s biggest political party.
“A failure to transition will delay the necessary shift we have to make to realise our mission.
“Our inability to be deliberate in the manner in which we pass the baton from one era to another distracts us from concerning ourselves with the problems of society.”