Issued by: Gauteng Legislature
MEDIA STATEMENT
In an event which is the first of its kind among Legislative bodies in South Africa, the Gauteng Legislature will host a YOUTH DEBATE inside Selborne Hall from 11H00 to 13H00 on Friday, 14th June 1996, as part of the programme in the province to commemorate and observe the 20th Anniversary of the 16 June 1976 National Uprising.
Pupils from 18 Secondary Schools in Gauteng will participate in a mock Sitting of the House, for which they have elected a Speaker, a Serjeant-at-Arms, three "imaginary" political parties and their Whips. The debate will be on the following three issues, around the context of the commemoration:
1. Creating a culture of learning: 2. Peace and justice; and 3. Youth contributing to our nation.
The related sub-themes for the debate are New Patriotism and Reconciliation. Each of the 18 schools, which have been selected by the Gauteng Education Department and are broadly representative of school demography in the province, will all be represented by 4 pupils each. The political parties have been named by the pupils themselves, and comprise a Majority Party, Opposition Party and a Minority Party, without bearing any overt or implied resemblance and identity to any of the 7 elected parties represented in the Gauteng Legislature.
The Legislature' Standing Committee on Petitions and Public Participation, as well as the departments of Communication and Proceedings, and together with the Gauteng Education Department, have consulted closely and actively in planning this event, as part of a continuing exercise towards deepening the roots of democracy by demystifying the legislative process and bringing it closer to the people.
The Speaker of the Gauteng Legislature, Mr Trevor Fowler, will deliver the opening address, and the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Petitions and Public Participation, Mr Firoz Cachalia, will close the event.
Teachers, fellow students, relatives and members of the public, are expected to attend the Sitting.
MOEMISE MOTSEPE (Media Liaison Officer)
(Issued by the Communication Department of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature) June 13 1996