Rehana Rossouw
DURING the July parliamentary recess, when the nation’s=20 leaders flee from Cape Town to service their=20 constituencies or simply take a break, their seats in=20 parliament will be filled by the future leaders of=20 South Africa when the South African Youth Parliament=20
Organised by the Street Law project, the initiative is=20 bringing together 130 high school and youth=20 representatives aged between 15 and 18 years from South=20 Africa, Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe,=20 Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland to expose them to the=20 principles of parliamentary democracy and human rights.
The six-day programme is geared towards grooming the=20 country’s future leaders for their roles, and ensuring=20 that they understand how parliament and the courts=20 function, and learn negotiating and debating skills.
There will be an inter-provincial mock trial=20 competition based on a constitutional issue such as=20 whether racist hate speech is protected by the bill of=20 rights. A Supreme Court judge will preside at the trial=20 and the winning team will be presented with a trophy.
The youth leaders will be ferried to Robben Island to=20 participate in a debate on whether human rights abusers=20 should receive amnesty.
Finally, they will spend three days divided into four=20 political parties to draft a constitution for the=20 fictitious state “Zamonia”, which has been devastated=20 by a protracted civil war.=20
The youth delegates will be required to negotiate a=20 settlement acceptable to all parties and the final=20 draft of the constitution will be ratified in a session=20 at the House of Assembly.
“The future opinion makers in industry, government and=20 law are currently in the ranks of South African youth.=20 It is therefore essential for the future wellbeing of=20 this country that opportunities are created for the=20 development of youth leadership,” said Street Law=20 director Peter Volmink.