Education

Creating responsible citizens

The City of Johannesburg’s Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Development, Cllr Nonhlanhla Sifumba, attended the GenZ Speaks Out panel discussion.
The event was organised by the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa. The panel discussion was targeted at young people under the age of 18 to discuss some of the issues that affect them in their lives. Young people had the opportunity to have a conversation that was guided by adults who care about their wellbeing.
The panel was made up of five vibrant young people. Some of the questions that were discussed included what does it mean to be young and free person in South Africa? What do you need from your parents? Where do you prefer to get sexual health talk from and how do we curb teenage pregnancy? The answers by the youth were very eloquent and thought provoking. Some of the parents in the room commented that they realised how little they know about their children. The event highlighted how the generation gap between parents and children can lead to miscommunication and a lost opportunity for adults and the youth to bond.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of SA provides facility-based programmes for learners from grades R to 12 during non-school hours. It facilitates programmes every day after school, on weekends and during school holidays.
It also provides important daily programmes and activities for children and teenagers such as homework help and tutoring, career guidance, leadership, community service and information technology skills. It also offers sports programmes such as soccer, basketball and netball, and arts and culture programmes such as marimba, dance and drama.
The City of Joburg is a pro-poor government that supports programmes that are aimed at addressing inequality and poverty. “We run facilities with limited resources and have limited funds to run youth programs. We welcome collaboration with the Boys and Girls Club of South Africa by rolling out activities in the City’s facilities” said MMC Sifumba. The City of Joburg remains one of Boys & Girls Clubs of SA’s longest-standing partners and critical to the growth of the Boys & Girls Club model in South Africa. The City provides its facilities for free to the organisation. The relationship has been cemented over the years, and now together, the two players aim to open 10 sites by 2020.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *