Gayton McKenzie Party Appoints young MPs, aged 20 and 22

Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie is beaming with pride after appointing a 20-year-old and 22-year-old to represent the party in parliament for the next five years.

Jasmine Petersen, 22, and Cleo Wilskut, 20, will be among the politicians who will be sworn in as MPs on Friday — and elect the president.

McKenzie has been gushing on social media about the party’s move of appointing young people in parliament, saying at their age he was facing imprisonment.

“I went to jail at age 20; they are going into parliament at age 20. We are breaking generational curses in our race,” he said.

“My best friend once asked me, ‘You have everything you want, why are you going into politics?’

“I said, ‘I am going into politics to make sure that my past doesn’t become the future of our youth.’”

Across various social media platforms, the appointment of Petersen and Wilskut has sparked a wave of both enthusiasm — and scepticism — for youth leadership and representation in South Africa’s political arena