Zinzile Mavuso18 April 2023
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation (AFK) Youth Activism Progamme Manager, Irfaan Mangera will be leaving the AKF.
Mangera will be joining the Rise Mzansi political movement that will be launched Wednesday, 19 April 2023. He leaves the organization after serving it for four years. Mangera started at the AKF as a volunteer and an intern.
The Youth Programme consists of community-based youth clubs recognized nationally and globally. The programme currently has clubs in thirty-three areas across Gauteng.
“When I joined, we were tasked with the huge responsibility to build a movement of young people across over one hundred communities in just 10 years. And more so, a movement that carries forward the legacy of Ahmed Kathrada. This centenary project was to honour him, by having thousands of young people actively involved in making a difference in their communities and upholding the best of the liberation movements values in taking this country forward,” said Mangera.
The work of the clubs includes creating spaces for young people to critically engage in political and social issues affecting their communities.
“The clubs provide a space for young people to organise and learn about the history of struggle, democracy, and the need for active participation in solving our problems. We have most certainly displayed that young people are not apathetic, neither are they lazy or hopeless,” added Mangera.
Mangera’s departure from the AKF comes into effect at the end of June. The delivery of a successful follow up to the 2022 Youth Parade in Tshwane will be his last contribution to the AKF and the various organizations that make up the National Youth Coalition.
“Irfaan and his team have been utterly amazing in the way they have built the youth programme at the AKF as well as the national and international links that have been established to ensure that youth struggles are connected universally. His dynamic and inspirational leadership will be sorely missed at the AKF,” said the AKF’s Executive Director, Neeshan Balton.
The Board and Staff of the AKF wish Mangera all the best for his future endeavors and thanks him for the contribution he has made to the foundation over the years.
ISSUED BY THE AHMED KATHRADA FOUNDATION
