Junior City Council

A Junior City Council is a local form of government, governed by minors. Junior City Councils hold the same jurisdiction as the sponsoring city council.

United States

The first Junior City Council in the United States was the Strasburg Junior City Council, founded in November 2006. The Junior City Council is composed of youth public officials elected into office. The purpose of the Junior City Council is its unique opportunity to give young adults experience in government and politics. The Council functions as a normal City Council with meetings, agendas, minutes, and takes on public projects. The Junior Council is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit, and is copyrighted.

Zimbabwe

In the early 1950 the idea of a Junior City Council was conceived to run parallel with the Senior Council. It was molded into a non-political and non-profit making organization whose aims as laid out in its operating constitution were to; provide a means by which senior scholars may obtain knowledge of civic affairs, report to senior scholars information pertinent to City Council affairs, create an organization representative of all the senior schools within the area of the jurisdiction of the Senior City Council, create a liaison between the young people of the City and the City Council, provide the young people of the City with a means by which they may make known their opinions and feelings, and by the example set by the Junior Council encourage a desire among the younger citizens of the City to participate actively in the affairs of the City. It is a make-up of senior scholars doing their A-level studies.

The Junior City Council is headed by an executive committee which comprises the Junior Mayor, Junior Deputy Mayor, Junior Town Clerk, Junior Treasurer, Junior Public Relations officer, Junior Projects coordinator, Junior Chief of Committees Clerk. The number of the Junior councilors equals the number of the Senior Councilors or alternatively the number of wards that need individual council representation. A ward being the subdivided units of the City that a Councilor is given mandate to represent. The Junior Council activities are closely monitored and regulated by a body of former excelled Junior Councilors who are awarded the title City Junior Alderman. The Junior Council term runs for a year and that of Junior Alderman is for life.The council is more relevant compared to the junior parliament.

South Africa

South Africa also has Junior City Councils in each city. The Junior City Councils are non-profit organizations that serves the youth and community of their area. They organize a number of events to provide opportunities for the youth to interact, to take initiative and responsibility and simultaneously raise funds for charity. The council members represent the willing schools in that allocated area/city. The learners plan and do all the fundraising events by themselves. The Junior City Councils are led by a student elected Executive or Management committee and are overseen by a governing body of adult members.

Paarl Junior Town Council

The Aims of the Paarl Junior Town Council:

Councillors are expected to/to be:

The Executive Committee for 2014 is:

Port Elizabeth Junior City Council (JCC PE)

The Junior City Council of Port Elizabeth is a non-profit organization where young, elected leaders from various high schools attend regular meetings (more or less twice a month) to discuss the key issues that face the youth and the community of Port Elizabeth. It is a great opportunity for young scholars to develop their leadership skills and their professionalism. The Junior City Council works hard to raise money for those less privileged by organizing and holding charity events. The organization strives to uplift and better the community. The Junior City council forges relationships with various companies and schools to fund the council’s events. It is an independent body, hosted by the Lions Club of Port Elizabeth, and has been in operation since 1957.

Our 2014-2015 board consist of :


JUNIOR MAYOR: Jessica Mandel - Theodor Herzl

DEPUTY JUNIOR MAYOR: Sivuyile Mamanzi - St Dominics Priory High School

SENIOR SECRETARY: Zandile Kolisi - Linkside High School

FINANCIAL MANAGER: Hluma Sikelwa - Linkside High School

HEAD OF FUNDRAISING: Sikho Gaika - Victoria Park High School

HEAD OF PUBLIC RELATIONS: Simphiwe Zungu - Harvest Christian School

HEAD OF ENVIRONMENT: Shene Roux - Pearson High School

HEAD OF COMMUNITY SERVICE: Chuma Losi - Chapman High School

HEAD OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT: Shannon Gerber - Collegiate Girls High School

MADAM SPEAKER: Gcobisa Kate - Westering High School


Our mission as the Junior City Council is to make a difference in people’s lives, to train young leaders and encourage young people to contemplate, view and debate current issues, form their own opinions in a largely unbiased environment and then act towards making a change. Our core of this mission is to provide financial support and upliftment to the community and various charities in and around Port Elizabeth. Each year, it is up to the councillors to determine what events shall be organised to benefit the underprivileged. Coming up with events, fundraising for the events and all the organisation and planning of these events is part of the leadership development program in place on JCC PE: https://www.facebook.com/JCCPE

Johannesburg Junior Council (JJC)

The Johannesburg Junior Council (JJC) is presently composed of 72 junior councilors all of whom are Grade 11 students, nominated by 36 secondary schools in the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan area. There are no criteria for a school to join the JJC; the only requirement is the desire to participate. The JJC was established in Johannesburg in 1928 making it one of the first junior councils in Southern Africa. It was formally associated with the Johannesburg City Council. It is now a registered NGO (052/457/NPO), completely self-sufficient and run by the youth of Johannesburg.

The JJC is composed of a Governing Body, an Executive Committee, Chairpersons of six committees and their committee members. The Executive consists of a Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Speaker of House, Chief Whip, Secretary and Public Relations Officer. The six committees - Youth Awareness, Welfare, Sports and Recreation, Arts and Culture, Ecology and Contact - are each managed by a Chairperson and a Deputy Chairperson and are governed by a constitution.

Executive for the term of 2011/2012

Executive for the term 2012/2013

Executive for the term 2013/2014

Among many things the JJC is committed to developing future leaders and upstanding citizens of this country, whilst at the same time giving back to the community.

Each year, it is up to the councilors to determine what events shall be organised to benefit the underprivileged. Coming up with events, fundraising for the events and all the organisation and planning of these events is part of the leadership development program in place on JJC. http://www.facebook.com/johannesburgjuniorcouncil

The Junior City Council of Pretoria

The Junior City Council of Pretoria was founded in 1979 in the “Year of the Child”. It is a non-profit organization which serves the youth and the community of Pretoria. The council organizes several events to provide opportunities for the youth to interact and to take initiative and responsibility, while raising funds for charity.

The diversity of the projects successfully organized by the council is of great importance. All projects are planned and executed by the council members themselves.

An Advisory Committee, consisting of educators from the member schools, periodically advise the council. The Patron of the council has the authority to veto undesirable projects according to her discretion. The patron of the JCC is Mrs. Linda Oberholzer as in 2012.

The Junior City Council of Pretoria currently (2012) has 38 member schools. Each school has two representatives: one grade 10 and one grade 11 student, thereby a total of 76 council members. Each school that is a part of the council chooses 1 learner in grade 10 in their school that has great leadership qualities, through a tough selection process.

The term of office for all councilors is two years and it ends in April of their final school year. (Grade 12)

The Junior City Council of Pretoria consists of 7 committees, with each committee meeting different needs.

Each committee consists of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, a Secretary and committee members.

All the money raised during the year is donated to charity at a formal meeting of the Junior City Council in May each year in the Ou Raadsaal Building on Church Square, Pretoria.

The Management of the 2012/2013 group is:

The Management of the 2013/2014 group is:

Junior City Council of Pretoria is dependent on sponsorships and donations from the community to be able to successfully host their projects.