Former Wits SRC president Cebolenkosi Khumalo said he would change the face of youth politics in South Africa if he was to be afforded the opportunity at the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) conference.
Khumalo was the Wits SRC president from 2021 to 2022 and has been known for his fundraising abilities and his vision for the restoration of youth politics at Wits University.
He told The Star he would be standing for the position of president at the ANCYL conference at Nasrec, Johannesburg, this weekend.
“I would like to introduce the vigour that the Youth League has lacked for some time. We are tired of being ice boys for the older generation and we want to take it back to the basics of youth politics,” Khumalo said.
Khumalo said he was concerned that the ANCYL had lost its flavour, mainly because of interference from the league’s mother structure.
“Taking it back to the basics means sticking to policy and putting the hopes and the aspirations of young people first. The Youth League was always about great minds and prophetic visionaries,” he said.
Khumalo is a two time graduate at Wits University with a BA Law degree and an LLB. He is now doing his Master’s in management and governance.
“I am passionate about the ANC and I do think that the party still has a role to play in South Africa. The ANC has great policies which can help the majority of our people,” he said.
Khumalo said he was also concerned about the HIV-Aids rate among the country’s youth.
He said he was working on programs to ensure awareness about the presence of the disease in South Africa. He was also working on other projects including the revamping of parts of the City of Johannesburg such as the taxi ranks and the improvement of the Mandela Bridge, which was used by many students.