Grooming future leaders
A passing out parade was held for the councillors of the Ekurhuleni Junior City Council in Germiston on Friday.
Initiated in 2015, the Junior City Council is represented by 99 junior councillors from different schools across the three regions of Ekurhuleni.
Brakpan High School learner Cecile Matabaro servd as the council’s executive mayor.
The structure was launched with the aim to formalise youth issues, develop leadership capabilities and educate young learners about municipal structures and governance matters.
The parade provided an opportunity for the councillors to reflect on challenges, successes and share highlights during their term of office.
In her closing address, the junior speaker of council, Sikhanyisiwe Pondwa, emphasised the two tier mandate of the junior city council, which was to act as a preliminary governance structure for the City of Ekurhuleni and secondly, for the junior councillors to assume the role of community ambassadors by collating youth issues and addressing them through formal council processes.
“It has been an amazing journey of growing in the knowledge of government, to the outgoing councillors, remember you remain leaders and ambassadors,” she added.
Taking the podium thereafter was Matabaro, who began her farewell speech with a thought provoking opening, “The end is not the end if one has created a sustainable path for the next generation. During our term, we learned the importance of understanding O R Tambo’s legacy and the principles that guided him.”
In order to serve their communities better the junior councillors had to hone specific skills and part of their grooming included being educated on the children’s constitution and understanding how local government works.
Speaker of council Alderman Patricia Kumalo bade farewell to the young leaders and thanked them profusely for serving their communities well and representing the municipality with diligence and a spirit of servitude.
The new junior administration will be elected in 2018.
Also read: South Africa’s education crisis at a glance
Stop attacks on emergency services personnel
Follow us:
