‘We still have wealth of experience to offer’

SOUTH African politicians who have served decades in Parliament say they still have a lot to contribute to growing the country.

DA parliamentarian Sandy Kalyan, who has had a National Assembly seat for the past 20 years said she still had much to offer.

“I have a number of years of experience and expertise which I am happy to share with new and younger members.”

She said the country needed young people in politics to take up issues.

She said generally, the mood for 2019 was very positive. “If people want to see change, then they have to be the change.”

Kalyan said she had met hundreds of students registering at university who said they had not registered to vote.

“This apathy needs to be corrected.” IFP MP Narend Singh, who has been in Parliament for two decades, said there were many challenges in the country and he believed he could still make a contribution.

“It’s a very challenging and exciting time for South Africa. What I am concerned about is that over the years, some issues which should have been buried are resurfacing again, like racism.

“Instead of building South Africa, some political parties are trying to put us back in a time when we were treated separately and differently. Certain groups are polarising us, instead of uniting. There are political parties that seem to want to alienate everybody who is not a native African,” said Singh.

He said he would like to see younger people going to Parliament.

“The youth voice is extremely important. Young people not only in political organisations but also in the social sector do not seem to put up their hand to serve.”

Singh urged the youth to vote, adding that decisions taken now would have a direct impact on them.

ANC MP Omie Singh, who has served in Parliament for a decade, said he still had his expertise and knowledge to offer.

He said many communities still lacked basic services and that there was still a lot of work to be done. Singh said once the national elections were finished he wanted the new Parliament to kick off its duties with programmes which would accelerate service delivery. He encouraged young people to come out in their numbers at the polling stations to make their voices heard.