Collen Malatji (born March 18, 1993) is a South African politician. He is the President of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). He became president after contesting unopposed at the 26th National Congress of the ANCYL on July 1, 2023.Â
Malatji was the 18th candidate on the Party’s Regional Gauteng Election list for the 2019 general election. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 2019.
Early life
| Vincent Magwenya | |
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| Background Information | |
| Full Name: | Thlologelo Collen Malatji |
| Born: | March 18, 1993 (age 30 years old) |
| Place of Birth: | Tembisa, South Africa |
| Nationality: | South Africa |
| Education: | Municipal governance |
| Alma mater: | University of Johannesburg |
| Occupation: | Politician |
| Position: | President of the African National Congress Youth League |
| Political Party: | African National Congress |
Thlologelo Collen Malatji was born March 18, 1993, in Tembisa, North of Kempton Park on the East Rand, Gauteng, South Africa. He started participating in politics at a very young age.
Collen Malatji joined the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) at the age of 13 years.
Education
Collen obtained a degree in municipal governance at the University of Johannesburg. He is studying for a social sciences degree at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Career
Politics
Malatji has served in many positions since his formal participation in politics. He was the regional secretary for the organization Ekurhuleni. He was also the chairperson of an African National Congress Youth League branch.
Another notable role in his CV is the position of the provincial secretary of COSAS in Gauteng. He is a member of the National Executive Committee. He later climbed to the office of the national president of COSAS.
Eventually, he became the regional deputy chairperson of the ANC youth league. In 2019, he was the Convenor of the ANC youth league in Ekurhuleni.
Parliamentary
On May 8, 2019, he was the 18th candidate on the African National Congress (ANC) Regional Gauteng Election List for the general election.
Collen was sworn into office on May 22, 2019 after winning election after ANC won 26 list seats in Gauteng. He sat on the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology from June 2019 to August 2021.
After, he sat on the newly recreated Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements.
ANC Youth League
In July 2023, at the ANC Youth League conference, delegates ensured Collen Malatji was elected unopposed to lead the once-limping league at Nasrec Expo Center Johannesburg.
Collen will have to resign his position as an MP after winning the election as the president of the ANC Youth League. His Economic Freedom or Death slate also won unopposed at the national conference.Â
Recognitions
Mail and Guardian cited him as one of the Top 200 Young South Africans for his work in Politics and Government in 2018.
In 2020, he appeared as number 85 on Avance Media’s List of the 100 Most Influential Young South Africans.
