Purge of Malema allies?

National Youth Development Agency board chairman Andile Lungisa has been excluded from the agency's next board.

Lungisa's omission may be interpreted as a way of getting rid of expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema's remaining allies in the agency.

Lungisa's name did not make the final list following intense interviews by a multiparty joint ad hoc committee.

The committee will present its recommendations to the National Assembly on Tuesday for the nominated candidates to be approved.

The board comprises seven people, most of whom are aligned to the ANC. The recommended names are former South African Student Congress leader Xoliswa Bambiso; deputy national chairman of the Inkatha Freedom Party Youth Brigade Zandile Majozi; Muthupi Modiba, Kenny Morolong and Maropene Ntuli of the ANC Youth League and Yershen Pillay and Nyalleng Potloana of the Young Communist League.

After the National Assembly's endorsement, the names will be sent to President Jacob Zuma, who has to make the final decision.

It remains to be seen if the youth agency 's CEO, Steven Ngobeni, and its chief operations officer, Magdaline Moonsamy, will survive as both remain close to Malema.

The youth agency has been shrouded in controversy under Lungisa's leadership, with many questioning why such a large chunk of its budget has been spent on salaries for its top staff

As chairman, Lungisa is reported to have been earning in the region of R700000 a year (or R58333 a month).

There was a huge outcry when the Treasury announced that it would allocate R1.2-billion to the agency over three years.

The DA said that the Treasury was pouring money down the drain, particularly as the agency has failed to deliver.

The agency was set up in 2009 following a merger between the National Youth Commission and the Umsobomvu Youth Fund.

Since inception, many have claimed that the only youths the agency was helping was its staff members. In December 2010, the agency spent several million on the World Youth Festival, which was later dubbed the "kissing festival" and damned for its debauchery and disorganisation.

It later emerged that R62-million was spent on confetti, musicians, poets, backpacks, caps, gold shirts, bottled water and a memorial plaque for the festival.

Lungisa told p arliament in May that the agency would not be able to fulfil its goals unless it was allocated at least R950-million a year.