THE inclusion of ANC Youth League president Julius Malema on the Forbes list of Africa’s 10most powerful young men is “pretty obvious” according to Pat Roberts, a leadership coach and a consultant to some government departments.

Malema was listed as one of 10 men under 40 “who wield enormous influence in Africa’s political and business circles” by Forbes magazine yesterday.

Despite sharing the list with Congolese President Joseph Kabila, South African billionaire Mark Shuttleworth, president of the South African Chamber of Commerce in America Euvin Naidoo, Standard Bank CEO David Munro and Madagascar’s transitional president Andry Rajoelina, Roberts doesn’t feel Malema is out of place on the list.

“He cuts into a need of young South Africans who need to be employed and empowered to have more say, and he is using that need as part of his profile-building, and he does it very skilfully too,” she said. “My perception is that the way he presents himself appeals to the audience he attracts. They aspire to have the things he has, go to the places he goes and present themselves the way he does.”

Roberts feels the South African youth see him as a figure they can follow. “It’s all about aspiration and the feeling is that if he can do it, they can, too,” said Roberts.

While the magazine labels Malema as being “divisive and polarising” and prone to “inflammatory rhetoric and racial slurs”, it said his role in bringing SA President Jacob Zuma to power made him a political force.

“The ANCYL wields enormous power in South African politics, and played a pivotal role in the election of incumbent president, Jacob Zuma, during the 2009 presidential elections,” it said .

Malema is currently battling a disciplinary hearing on charges of bringing the ANC into disrepute and sowing division in its ranks.

Five South African women made the list of Forbes Top 20 Youngest Power African Women, including media mogul Khanyi Dhlomo, former Mvelaphanda Group CEO Yolanda Cuba and Shanduka Group CEO Phuti Malabie.

Investec Bank’s Lisa Kropman and Ernst Young senior partner Jonitha Gugu Msibi also made the list.