GALLERY: Ekurhuleni junior councillors inducted at the Alberton Civic Centre
The City of Ekurhuleni’s establishment of Junior City Council (JCC) brought about 70 delegates of councillors who were inaugurated to being junior councillors.
AFTER being selected in August 2018, based on academic excellence and leadership skills, Ekurhuleni junior councillors were inducted on August 31 and September 1 at the Alberton Civic Centre.
The City of Ekurhuleni’s establishment of Junior City Council (JCC) brought about 70 delegates of councillors who were inaugurated to being junior councillors.
In partnership with the Gauteng Department of Education, the group was chosen from schools around Alberton and the whole of Ekurhuleni.
During the induction, they were told what is expected of them and enlightened about their ethics as councillors.
The role of junior councillors
They are chosen from their school’s representatives and they participate in numerous programmes that involve them with the community.
The councillors are elected to represent local communities on municipal councils.
They have to make sure that municipalities have structured mechanisms of accountability to local communities.
The City had previously chosen its group of councillors from Grades 10 and 11, but the recent group of learners are from Grade Nine and 10.
The group of learners will enrol in this programme for two years where management training will be provided to them by the City.
Similarly to senior councillors, they will be mandated to come up with programmes that will bring solutions in their communities.
Best-performing learners from the group are guaranteed bursaries after completion of Grade 12.
Silumko Mabena, an Ekurhuleni Legislature convener, said the group will have committee meetings and also be introduced to the City of Ekurhuleni’s Customer Care Centre.
“This is quite an effective programme. We got good results from the previous group of 99 junior councillors and we hope to get even more results with this group. It was essential to choose a group that performs well academically since they will be involved in a lot of programmes,” said Mabena.
He said the group will also be dealing with societal issues that adversely affect their peers.
Speaking on behalf of Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina was MMC for City Planning councillor Madihlaba Masele, who encouraged the junior councillors to set an example to the public.
“We want them to be a generation that will bring solutions to the city and the country. Whatever they’re building here today is not necessarily for them, but for generations to come.
“We are not looking for that generation that will block roads for service delivery issues,” he said.
Katlego Makgata, Ekurhuleni junior city council mayor from Phulong Secondary School, said: “I was elected based on the criteria of my speaking ability and also my thinking abilities.
“I think the City is trying to create a way in which the youth can direct their grievances to us.
“The senior councillors can speak about global issues, but there are issues that relate to us as the youth, and that’s where we come in.”
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