Update

KNYSNA NEWS - Jason White, an eager 21-year-old Hornlee resident who sits on the Knysna Youth Council, recently participated in a Youth Parliament session in Cape Town hosted by the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP).

He was part of 38 delegates from around the province – an equal number of female and male representatives – who participated in the event. 

Delegates took part in two rounds of debate: an unprepared individual round where they had to debate a topic for three minutes, and a group round where they had to debate a topic as part of a team.

The delegates represented the Garden Route, Overberg, Central Karoo and West Coast districts as well as Cape Town Metropolitan.

After the adjudication, Speaker Masizole Mnqasela announced Justin Yawe of the Garden Route (George) and Rayanha Isaacs of the Cape Metro as the winners.

Yawe and Isaacs will now go on to represent the Western Cape at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, African Region Youth Parliament in Kigali, Rwanda from 10 to 16 September.

Apart from the winner Yawe and runner-up Jalaser Bosman who are both from George Youth Council, and Knysna's White, four others who made it to the top 10 are also from the Garden Route including Alutha Phike from Plettenberg Bay and Dané Prins from Mossel Bay.

White said he is "immensely thankful" for the privilege to have taken part in the event, and added, "This gave me an opportunity to highlight the institutional exclusion of young people from places of decision-making and authority."

He said he was particularly encouraged by the Western Cape Parliament and government's commitment to addressing youth development and the challenges the youth face across the length and breadth of the province.

Reflecting on the entire experience, Hornlee's White said it left him with hope for young people in the province. "I've also had an opportunity to network with delegates and staff and I foresee a great working relationship between ourselves as a youth council and the Provincial Parliament and various other junior councils."

Read a previous article here: Garden Route youth make their mark in WC Parliament

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