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The Democratic Alliance (DA) Youth supports the Young Communist League's (YCL) call for President Zuma to intervene and depoliticize the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and make it more representative of youth identification. The DA Youth notes with dismay the composition of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Provincial Advisory Boards announced on Wednesday, of which the overwhelming majority are ANC Youth League office bearers. This sends the wrong message about how independent bodies should be staffed and creates the impression that the NYDA is nothing more than a patronage machine for Youth League aspirants.

The NYDA is supposed to be an independent body that promotes the interests of South Africa's youth. The Provincial Advisory Boards, which advise the NYDA board on programmes of action in their respective provinces, should represent a cross-section of youth organisations from both civil society and political parties. But with the Provincial Advisory Boards stacked with ANCYL members, they are unlikely to fulfil their mandate in a fair and independent way. They will be beholden to the structure that ultimately "deployed" them, the Youth League.

The NYDA has already been exposed as a place where ANCYL members can get rich. The NYDA CEO, Steven Ngubeni, is the deputy-secretary general of the ANCYL, earning R1.8 million per year, despite the NYDA's weak performance. His salary rivals Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe's. ANC YL deputy-president Andile Lungisa earns almost R800 000 for his role as NYDA executive chairman. And in total, the 12 executive operating officers earned about R11 million last year, the same amount the Auditor General stated the Agency had accumulated in "irregular expenditure."

With this kind of casual dominance of the NYDA, it's no wonder the ANCYL simply stacked the provincial advisory boards with their cronies. We've seen this before from its parent organization in national, provincial and municipal government. But cadre deployment doesn't serve the interests of the youth. We require a clean, efficient, and capable administration that can help develop the youth, not one that can only meet 15 of its 62 targets (a 24% "success" rate for last year). With reports coming in that the NYDA is already a stage for ANCYL faction disputes, we wonder whether it will be able to really achieve anything meaningful at all.

South African youth, who too often carry the burden of a poor education and face the prospects of long-term unemployment, need a serious government commitment. The NYDA was supposed to be that commitment. But the Agency's credibility has been compromised by cadre deployment, delayed provincial advisory board appointments, and pathetic performance.