SINESIPHO SCHRIEBER<\/b><\/p>\n
Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>At what age should ministers and MPs hang up their hats?<\/p>\n The spotlight is on cabinet members this week as the ANC Youth League and the party’s national chair Gwede Mantashe clash on the call to appoint more young people to top political positions.The league wants 50% representation in parliament and provincial legislatures.<\/p>\n Former finance minister Trevor Manuel recently said the country does not need those older than 65. Instead, more leadership opportunities should be given to younger people.<\/p>\n Manuel resigned as finance minister in 2008, at 52, with several other ministers, when former president Thabo Mbeki was replaced by Jacob Zuma.<\/p>\n When Manuel, now 67, was asked whether he would consider returning to cabinet, he said the government did not need more older people in leadership positions.<\/p>\n \u201cI just happen to be of the view that our political leaders need to reflect South Africa more closely. South Africa is a young country. That you have so many people over 65 sitting in cabinet and parliament is part of the difficulty.<\/p>\n \u201cPolitics is a very exerting activity; it is not a profession. I served as an MP and minister for 20 years. It is a distinct privilege to be able to do that. You do it with everything you\u2019ve got and then you step aside and hope the next generation will come through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Here is a look at the ages of ministers:<\/p>\n Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma: 74<\/p>\n Pravin Gordhan: 74<\/p>\n Patricia de Lille: 72<\/p>\n Bheki Cele: 71<\/p>\n Naledi Pandor : 69<\/p>\n Angie Motshekga: 68<\/p>\n Enoch Godongwana: 66<\/p>\n Dr Joe Phaahla: 66<\/p>\n Senzo Mchunu : 65<\/p>\n Barbara Creecy: 65<\/p>\n Aaron Motsoaledi: 65<\/p>\n Lindiwe Zulu: 65<\/p>\n Thulas Nxesi: 64<\/p>\n Ebrahim Patel: 61<\/p>\n Zizi Kodwa: 53<\/p>\n Thembi Nkadimeng: 50<\/p>\n Khumbudzo Ntshavheni: 46<\/p>\n Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane: 45<\/p>\n Ronald Lamola: 40<\/p>\n For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SINESIPHO SCHRIEBER Africa-Press – South-Africa. At what age should ministers and MPs hang up their hats? The spotlight is on cabinet members this week as the ANC Youth League and the party’s national chair Gwede Mantashe clash on the call to appoint more young people to top political positions.The league wants 50% representation in parliament […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":55018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-55019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\n