Nasi Ispani initiative should prioritise ANC volunteers, says Collen Malatji
ANCYL President Collen Malatji has raised eyebrows with his comments that Nasi Ispani initiative in Gauteng must benefit ANC volunteers first.
Delegates at the ANC's 55th national elective conference on 17 December 2022. Picture: Jacques Nelles/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - After months of the African National Congress (ANC) in Gauteng denying claims that Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s Nasi Ispani initiative is an electioneering tool, the governing party’s youth league President Collen Malatji says it must cater to ANC volunteers first.
The jobs initiative driven by Lesufi is aimed at getting young people into jobs.
Lesufi says in the year since its launch, it's created over 90,0000 employment opportunities
Several opposition parties have objected to the project, accusing Lesufi of abusing his powers by using a state sponsored initiative to help keep the ANC, which is holding onto the country’s economic hub by a shoe-string in power.
On Sunday, Malatji told thousands of supporters gathered at an ANC rally in Alexandra that Nasi Ispani must be for people from Gauteng and those who support his party.
"We say when you do Nasi Ispani comrade Panyaza, don’t have fear. The first people that you must deploy are volunteers of the ANC because they must reflect Nasi Ispani themselves, no one can tell people better life for all ba mbashile bona [while they are ashy)]."