Al Jama-ah puts student, 20, second on candidates list

An outspoken student leader has been thrust into the limelight by one of the newer parties on the ballot, by being listed right at the top of their parliamentary candidate list.

Islamic party Al Jama-ah included a student leader, Nontobeko Aisha Mkhwanazi, who is just 20 years of age, as their second candidate in their national list.

This comes after political parties, including the ANC and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), submitted rather youthful national and provincial candidate lists.

The ANC was even reportedly bragging about having prominent student leaders in its court, including former Wits University #FeesMustFall campaign leader Nompendulo Mkhatshwa, and a horde of present and former ANC Youth League leaders – the youngest of whom is only 20 years old.

Al Jama-ah president Ganief Hendricks described Mkhwanazi as the most suitable choice, seeing that she was a black female Muslim and would appeal to not only the black Islamic community, but also the youth within it.

He said the reason behind targeting the youth was the need for more young people in the country to gain access to politics.

“Young people may be politically active in their high school years but once they get into varsity, they lose interest in politics,” he said.

He said the party had also teamed up with student groups such as the Progressive Student Movement and felt taking the bold steps to include younger people in politics, would make it easier for them to be more involved.

He said there were several issues faced by the youth in the Islamic community which needed to be dealt with.

Political analyst Andre Duvenage said there was a generational problem in politics, where political parties did not “really” have representations for the majority of the SA population, the youth.

“There is still a need for [the older generation] in politics, but there needs to be a balance between age and the youth,” he said.

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