Trevor Manuel former finance minister says South Africa needs a younger president.
Manuel was at the Stellenbosch University's museum on Wednesday to speak about the role of students as active citizen an audience member raised concern over the age of leadership within the ANC.
"I don’t understand it. One of the reasons I stepped out of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC voluntarily [is because] I’d served for 21 years in the NEC and I said I can’t continue to serve, I mustn’t hang onto this position with white knuckles," Manuel said.
President Jacob Zuma is currently aged 75.
Manuel compared South Africa to the United States of America, saying the country managed to elect president Barack Obama while he was still in his 40s.
He said the ANC "has got to bring through a generation of people who want to be there and will be active and say to other people: you served us well, become part of a general reservoir of information and knowledge and a sounding board for what we do, but don’t sit in the chairs of those who need to be there".
Manuel, however, admitted that his views about making space for younger leaders are held by a minority of ANC members.
No comments:
Post a Comment