Fostering civic responsibility among Grade 10 and Grade 11 learners in all 116 wards and 21 subcouncils is the driving force behind the establishment of the City of Cape Town’s Junior City Council (JCC).
Through this initiative young learners are able to assist and develop the skills, self-image and leadership abilities of young individuals, enabling them to serve as City Ambassadors proudly, said the City.
After the term of the last JCC executive came to an end at the end of last year, the new junior councillors elected a new executive on Saturday 22 July, with Fayhaa Khalil elected Junior Deputy Mayor.
“I heard of the JCC from my friend Elijah Bouwers,” she said. “What sparked my interest was that it spoke about a platform for the youth of Cape Town to speak out about their experiences, and I knew this would be the perfect opportunity for me as I am someone who is deeply passionate about the well-being of people. I’m also a person that can never let down a good opportunity.”
A Grade 10 learner at Abbots College in Rondebosch, Khalil said she was “extremely grateful” after the election.
“(I was grateful) to my mother who pushed me to do my best and my peers for voting for me,” she said. “I was honestly quite in shock for the whole day and only realised what I had achieved the day after.”
The election followed a democratic electoral process, supported by campaigning and nominations by the current JCC members with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) serving as the presiding officer.
“The election process was tough because in the JCC we have very capable people,” said Khalil. “We campaigned ourselves on a WhatsApp group chat by posting videos and posters on who we are. I honestly had very little hope in myself. I put myself up as Junior Mayor or Junior Deputy Mayor, as I felt qualified for either position and I am extremely grateful for my position. I felt qualified to be someone able of speaking up for the JCC as well as all students around me.”
This election has also opened a new potential opportunity for her
“Politics is definitely an option I am now looking at. Before the JCC, I didn’t have many interests in politics but the JCC helped broaden my perspective and helped me realise how impactful each individual is. What excited me about politics is understanding how each person sees a situation and creating solutions that suit everyone.”
With her time in office, she hopes to create awareness and make a difference.
“I hope to spread the awareness that it doesn’t take much to make a difference and that if we all put in a little bit of work then we will be able to mould the future differently than the present,” Khalil said. To the youth: “We are all capable. It’s in our differences that we make the difference, all we need to do is put them together.”
