They’ve been called nerds and goody-two-shoes, but they shrug off these snide remarks and make positive changes instead.
They’re the junior city councillors who act as youth representatives in major cities across the country and are required to give of their free time for a one-year term.
Grant Gardner of St Davids Marist Inanda, Kelly Kramer of King David Victory Park and Vusi Sibiya of Forest High headed up the 2002 Junior City Council (JCC) in the Johannesburg Metro.
The trio laughs off suggestions that councillors spend weekends poring over share prices. ‘We go out, have fun like other kids but we know our boundaries,” says Sibiya who is chairman of
management.
There are 76 Johannesburg councillors and the Mr and Miss Johannesburg competition they organised this year raised R46 000 for a young woman suffering from multiple sclerosis. They’ve also given aid to numerous children’s homes and homes for the elderly.
‘One of the highlights for me was visiting the Dyambu Youth Centre, which is a juvenile prison. Just seeing their situation made me realise how fortunate I am,” says Gardner, reflecting on their year in council.
All three matriculants agree they’ve been exposed to a broader slice of life that their peers would not necessarily have access to. Gardner adds: ‘It’s been the most inspirational year, and you take away with you all the contacts and friendships that you’ve made.”
Politics and religion are the two taboo subjects in the JCC, but the councillors insist they don’t steer away from other tricky issues. Some topics that have come under the JCC spotlight include teen suicide, HIV/ Aids and teen substance abuse. ‘JCC is definitely not just about soft issues and charity,” says Sibiya.
The programme is open to all schools in the Johannesburg Metropolitan area and has been going for 77 years.
In Cape Town there are 170 junior city councillors from across the Unicity. This year reduction of crime is their primary campaign. The councillors start their term each March and have already embarked on a campaign against gangsterism.
‘We wanted to speak out to say the youth don’t want to see young people dying in senseless gang violence,” says Robyn Roodt (16), the mayor of Cape Town’s JCC.
Roodt says that, while there is a strong focus on nurturing leadership potential, the councillors will also tackle issues such as teen sex and HIV/ Aids and voter education.
‘We really want to make a difference in our communities and the JCC is a way for the youth to do this. It’s definitely worth it for any learner who is interested to get involved, and it’s not just for the straight A students,” says the Sans Souci Girls High pupil.