Collen Malatji
# Collen Malatji

Thlologelo Collen Malatji (born 18 March 1993) is a South African politician and the current president of the African National Congress Youth League, a position he was elected to at the league's 2023 conference. Malatji has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 2019.

## Early life and education

Malatji was born on 18 March 1993 in Tembisa in the former Transvaal Province. He studied municipal governance at the University of Johannesburg. He is currently studying for a social sciences degree at the University of the Witwatersrand.

## Political career

Malatji was just 13 years old when he joined the Congress of South African Students (COSAS). He served as the organisation's regional secretary in Ekurhuleni, as the chairperson of an African National Congress Youth League branch, as the provincial secretary of COSAS in Gauteng, as a member of the National Executive Committee, as the national president of COSAS and as the regional deputy chairperson of the ANC youth league. By 2019, he was the convenor of the ANC youth league in Ekurhuleni.

He was cited by the Mail & Guardian as one of the "Top 200 Young South Africans" for his work in Politics and Government in 2018. He was number 85 on Avance Media's list of the 100 Most Influential Young South Africans in 2020.

## Parliamentary career

Malatji was the 18th candidate on the African National Congress Regional Gauteng Election List for the general election on 8 May 2019. He was elected as the ANC won 26 list seats in Gauteng and was sworn into office on 22 May 2019. He sat on the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology between June 2019 and August 2021. As of August 2021, he sits on the newly recreated Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements.

## President of the ANC Youth League

During the 26th National Congress of the African National Congress Youth League on 1 July 2023, Malatji was elected unopposed as president of the league after Aphiwe Mkhangelwa declined the nomination from delegates. Candidates from Malatji's "Economic freedom or death" slate were also elected unopposed.

