The City of Johannesburg’s legislature recently met with students and academia of the University of Johannesburg, encouraging them to be active citizens and hold the City accountable ‘in order to realize service delivery’.
The head of the legislature, Speaker of Council Vasco Da Gama, challenged the students to continue with the robust discussions held on the day.
“I believe I say this as a matter of fact that continuous engagements with various sectors in the community are critical to staying relevant and at the heartbeat of community issues,” he said.
Da Gama was accompanied by the Chair of Chairpersons, Alex Christians, the Chief Whip of Council, Kevin Wax and the chairpersons of Section 79 oversight committees.
Addressing more than 450 students from various faculties including political science, international relations, governance, law and developmental studies at the packed Kingsway Campus on 16 March, Da Gama called on the student community to be active citizens and participate in municipal matters.
“We monitor proactively and ensure that whatever we have promised, is delivered on, which is how we are able to improve the lives of our people.
I want to also extend an invitation to students who may want to visit the City and engage in further discussions about the municipality, our doors are open to sharing knowledge, and we are as hungry to learn as we are to teach.”
He added that the City’s legislature aimed to hold the executive accountable through means such as focusing on the eradication of corruption, nepotism and abuse of power, to inspire public confidence by striving to be an example of good governance and to effect democratic control.
“A country cannot dream of a better and more promising future for as long as corruption is the order of the day and remains unchallenged.”
The UJ engagement is one of many more to be rolled out at other tertiary institutions.
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