Children’s parliament gets first speaker with a disability
History was made today when the Nelson Mandela Children’s Parliament elected its first ever Speaker with a disability. Jean-Claude Smit, a deaf seventeen year-old male learner from De La Bat School for the Deaf in the Western Cape, was elected by majority vote to the position of Speaker and will oversee tomorrow’s children’s parliamentary session.
The fifth Annual Nelson Mandela Children’s Parliament has congregated in the Free State Legislature to tackle a number of serious issues to do with the protection of children including forced child marriages, the death of young boys in initiation schools, child killings, the death of young girls due to illegal termination of pregnancies, and violence in schools.
The election of Smit as Speaker has been hailed as a progressive step in the advancement of the interests and rights of people with disabilities. This is Smit’s first attendance at the Children’s Parliament and he says he is excited about the responsibility that has been given to him by his peers.
“The deputy principal of my school selected me to come to the Children’s Parliament because of my leadership skills and courage. I did not expect to be elected the Speaker of Parliament at my first attendance. But now that I have been elected, I want to use this opportunity to show other children with disabilities that we are capable just like everyone else,” said Smit.
He says he also wants to use his tenure as Speaker of the Children’s Parliament to promote discussions on improving the home environment for children.
“Many children are exposed to bad things in their homes, like abuse and parents who abuse drugs and alcohol. These children then bring their experiences to school leading to bullying, peer pressure and the formation of gangs in schools. We therefore need to find ways to improve the home environment because that is where most problems start,” explained Smit.
The Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini, will host a gala dinner for the child parliamentarians on October 6 at the Naval Hill President Hotel (1 Union Avenue, Bloemfontein). The fifth session of the Children’s Parliament will take place on October 7 at the Free State Legislature, starting at 8h00.
The Children’s Parliament is a key programme of Social Development Month (October), which aims to increase access to and utilisation of social services through direct intervention by building effective service delivery partnerships between government, communities and other role players.
Social Development Month takes place under the auspices of the Department’s flagship outreach programme, Project Mikondzo – a service delivery improvement programme aimed at responding quicker, more effectively and innovatively to social challenges in the country.
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