ANC Youth League’s Tsakani Shiviti: From humble beginnings to political leadership

A humble, God-fearing and traditional Tsonga girl from Mapapila village, Malamulele in Limpopo – that’s how Tsakani Shiviti, the ANC Youth League deputy secretary-general, describes herself.

She has recently been in the spotlight, advancing the aspirations of the “young lions”, which includes publicly challenging the ANC’s “eldership”, calling for a 50% youth representation in Cabinet, among other contentious issues.

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In a candid interview with Saturday Citizen, she jokingly mentioned that, for those who have been eyeing her, she is single and looking for a gentleman. Shiviti grew up in the care of her grandmother while her parents worked in Gauteng, describing her upbringing alongside her six siblings as a blessing.

“We would spend our days in the fields. She taught us to plough organic traditional food and I grew fond of that lifestyle.”

She said, because people were interconnected in the villages, she was raised like a child of a community, rather than by one family.

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“If you did wrong, you could be disciplined by anyone because they saw you as their child,” Shiviti says.

“There was a high level of discipline, respect, and if you had to go a distance of five kilometres, you’d greet each and every elder.”

Contrary to popular belief that people struggle in the villages, she did not experience that, as everyone lived the same lifestyle.

“We attended a public school and had to walk a distance, but we were walking with other children.”

Outside of politics, she is a traditionalist and a Christian.

“I just love eating tihove (a traditional dish, samp with peanuts). I don’t drink alcohol, I prefer to be sober.”

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Her road to acquiring an education beyond high school was tougher. She had not made any college or university admission applications. However, on receiving her Grade 12 results, she left home, penniless, to attend the University of Limpopo, without informing her parents.

“I was a hairdresser, so I gave myself two days to do hair and put that money aside to travel to the University of Limpopo. I didn’t know where to go or sleep…

“When I got there I met a branch secretary of Sasco (the South African Students Congress). They were able to get me accommodation and the first contact I had at ‘varsity was the branch secretary,” Shiviti said.

“He assisted us to apply.”

She secured placement and registered for bachelors of arts in communications, then fought for more than 300 students to get registered.

“I knew Sasco was aligned to the ANC and started to go to topological schools where they conscientised us about the ideologies and the history of the movement,” Shiviti said.

“I got to understand the values of the ANC, understood that it is always about the people.”

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In 2016, she was elected as a deputy president of Sasco, taking the reins during the turbulent #FeesMustFall times.

“From that level, we were shaping policies that had to do with funding of higher education, and where the funds would come from… We wanted free education, so it was a question of how we wanted it,” she says.

Reflecting on the achievements, Shiviti said: “It was to get the country to adjust taxation. The one percent VAT tax which was initiated was per our suggestion – that we must have one percent of free tax, meant for the benefit of higher education…”

The youth league wants the country to be industrialised and has asked government to keep 20% of the mineral resources so SA can produce its own products – the backbone of the economy.

“We have gold. Let it remain here. Profile gold here and if ever there’s anyone who wants a gold product, they must know gold products are coming from here.

“We believe exporting mineral resources in high quantities is cutting jobs because if they remain in the country, they can assist in generating jobs. If we export more of our raw material, we export more jobs.”

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The league has been demanding that 50% of the Cabinet seats be given to young people, public enterprises, trade and industry, human settlements, transport, basic education and higher education.

The structure has been given a lashing from the ANC, accusing it of attacking ministers like Pravin Gordhan and Thulas Nxesi. Shiviti says the youth league’s demands were not far-fetched.

“We have seen what SA Airways is doing to us; you can’t say you now want to sell Eskom. Private owners don’t have obligations to the people. Private ownership is all about profit, and we don’t want entities that will be used to amass profits, we want entities that will be used to make the lives of the people easier.

“If we love our nation, we have to protect it and if we feel you are a threat to the nation, to protect it we must go through you.”

Shiviti says the youth league is relevant because there was no way a society could be led by people who were not relevant and they needed to address issues that are a problem to society She says the only way for the ANC to attract young people is to address issues faced by young people, like unemployment.

“Our plan is to fight; the majority of our people are not voting – not because they prefer another party outside the ANC…

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“Young people are not voting and we need to bring confidence – and for us to bring confidence, we need to clean the ANC,” Shiviti says.

– lungam@citizen.co.za