Son of top attorney joins party of ex-cons

Sushi king turned politician Kenny Kunene is hoping law student Zareef Minty will be his golden ticket to secure the youth vote for the newly formed Patriotic Alliance .

Minty, 19, a student at the University of the Witwatersrand, has been elected as the party's youth league co-president. He was the ANC Youth League treasurer until Kunene approached him four months ago and convinced him to join the Patriotic Alliance.

"Kenny said he wanted to start his own party and focus on the youth and delivering to the people. I liked his idea and waited for him to launch the party before I crossed over," said Minty.

Party president Gayton Mckenzie and secretary-general Kunene, who spent time in prison for armed robbery and fraud, respectively, initially roped in the recently paroled Cape Town gangster Rashied Staggie as an advisory member, said Kunene. But Staggie's parole was revoked following his association with the party.

Why would a squeaky-clean law student and the son of prominent Johannesburg criminal attorney Zahed Minty want to throw in his lot with gangsters?

"I have learnt never to look at someone's past and decide their future," said Minty.

"Gayton, Kenny and Rashied are reformed. I look to Kenny as a role model and a father figure. Gayton is like an older brother and I hold his advice dear."

Minty will be based in Johannesburg and his youth league co-president, Davin The-Kisho, a student at the University of Cape Town, will focus on the Western Cape.

"We want to use social network sites to keep in touch with the youth and hear what they have to say. Our challenges are unemployment and youth voter apathy. We need to change the mindset and get the youth to vote - they need to start caring about who makes decisions that affect their lives."

Kunene, who famously served sushi on semi-naked women to guests at a party held at his nightclub in Sandton, said Minty and The-Kisho were elected because they displayed leadership qualities.

"We are targeting [from] the youth to senior citizens, from squatters to suburbs. We want to empower people with entrepreneurial skills so we can put an end to a society dependent on grants," he said.