Speech delivered by
Carl – Joshua Pophaim
Junior Mayor of the City of Cape Town
“Introduction to Senior Council”
23rd of July 2014
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Honourable Mayor, Honourable Deputy Mayor, MAYCO Members,
Councillors, Honoured Guests and Members of the Media.
Good morning, Goeie More, Molweni, Dumelang, Sawubona,
Asalamoe Alaikum – Welcome.
On behalf of the Cape Town Junior City Council I would like to convey
my thanks to the Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town;
Alderman Patricia de Lille, the Honourable Speaker of Council;
Alderman Dirk Smit, Councillor Grant Twigg, Levona Africa and all
Councillors, for giving us young people from the 111 wards across
the City the opportunity to so actively engage in civic matters and
also become the leaders not of the future but of today. To be a part
of the biggest public partition unit and to have such a big role in
youth development is truly an honour.
As the JCC we are passionate about enhancing and encouraging good
governance, creating awareness about leadership, finding solutions
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to the social ills that face our brave youth and driving community
service amongst the youth of Cape Town.
A fantastic example of this is when 250 Junior Councillors was doing
great community service in all of Cape Town on the 18th of July 2014
for Madiba Day. Be it at the children’s homes, shelters, local beaches
and old age homes we truly showed this City that regardless financial
or transportation constraints we will not allow anything to stop us
youth from serving it.
But as Junior Mayor I have also set a very specific mandate for this
Junior City Council and that is to deliver hope to the City of Cape
Town. Because Councillors it worries me that if you go to Mitchells
Plain this evening there are still so many youth engaging in drug
abuse because they believe it is the only solution to the poverty they
face – even though they are not my friends!
Councillors it worries me that if you go to Manenberg today there
are still so many of our young women, our rocks that are becoming
teenage mothers because they are not educated about
contraceptives – even though they are not my sisters!
And Councillors it worries me that if you go to Steurhof today you
find that an intercom system is being made more controversial and
given more attention than the drug abuse and child abuse that is so
rife within the area.
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But Councillors let me make it clear to you today that through all
these issues, through all these hardships we have hope.
Councillors we have hope, hope in the face of drugs, hope in the face
of crime, hope in the face of poverty – we have the right to hope!
Cllr Vuba nathi siyakwazi ukuthetha isiXhosa! Agbare Burgemeester
ons kan van Baufort Wes wees of van Durbanville wees raadslid
Fourie, but at the end of the day Honourable Members we will all
come together, in our masses, with one collective voice and deliver
hope to the City of Cape Town.
Xa sidibene singanikeza ithemba, we must come together for change,
because we are one City with one future, we are all here to move
Cape Town forward. We as the JCC are coming together with the
youth in the City as well as the Senior City Council to become united
to make a difference. Let me tell you 20 years into democracy we
have no excuse, we have no racial or religious division like in many
other countries – there is no Black South Africa, there is no White
South Africa there is only the Republic of South Africa – there is no
Coloured South Africa, there is no Indian South Africa – but only the
Republic of South Africa!
The Junior City Council in the City of Cape Town is here to make a
change for the youth of this City and to make youth development
prosper within the City of Cape Town – to deliver hope to Cape
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Town, and I believe that we can make progress possible – together,
because our destiny is in our hands, our destiny is in our hands.
Nkosi sikelela iSixeko SaseKapa. God Bless Cape Town. God seën
Kaapstad.
I thank you.
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