Honourable Young Ones

28 Jul 2025

Honourable Young Ones: Amplifying Their Echo

The air in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on July 19, 2025, vibrated with a unique energy. As I watched the Children’s Sector Parliament unfold, led with remarkable dignity and confidence by the Young Honourable Tshisani and his equally remarkable and confident Deputy Speaker, the Young Honourable Motha, a profound sense of hope and admiration swelled within me. The Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s own press release aptly captured the essence of the event: it’s about “giving young people a platform to raise their voices, share their experiences and actively participate in shaping policies that affect them.”

This annual Children’s Sector Parliament serves critical aims: to empower children to participate in legislative processes, to encourage their role in shaping good governance, and to demonstrate their understanding of their rights and responsibilities. This year’s discussions delved into crucial topics such as children’s mental wellness, the impact of a lack of specialized primary schools, and the effectiveness of Comprehensive Sexuality Education. Schools like Mosupatsela Secondary, Springville Primary, Botsebotse Secondary, Mahlenga Secondary, and Trinity House Little Falls were among those represented, showcasing a diverse range of young voices ready to be heard.

However, the need for children’s voices extends far beyond a single annual parliamentary session. This is where Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) emerges as an indispensable, year-round platform, not just for entertainment, but as a vital space for expression, healing, and advocacy.

One young Honourable rose on a point of order, her words echoing a sentiment that resonates deeply within the TYA community: “I rise for a child who sits in silence, carrying the weight of trauma, fear, and loneliness, and we expect them to learn, like nothing has happened. No child is born broken, but bullying, pressure, abuse, parental divorces and so forth break a child, whose grades suddenly drop and we label them lazy. We are also quick to throw them in detention, and never ask what’s the problem.”

Theatre for Young Audiences rises with the young honourable. It rises everyday to meet these challenges. Plays like “The Confession,” a jaw-dropping piece featuring an 11-year-old talent, bravely unpack the unspoken burdens children carry. Similarly, 2025 Ovation-award winning productions such as “Mqambi weNyembezi Vuka” and “My Long-Lost Father” directly address pressing societal needs, including the critical absence of male role models. TYA provides a safe, imaginative space for young people to see their struggles reflected, to find validation, and to begin processing difficult realities.

Another young Honourable member eloquently stated in her argument, “Sechaba se entsweng ka bana ba fokolang, ha se no ba le matla” – a Sesotho proverb meaning, “A nation made up of broken children will never be strong.” This underscores the fundamental truth that a healthy society depends on healthy, heard children. Yet, as another young Honourable member lamented, “They tell us we’re just children. They say we haven’t lived long enough.” This dismissive attitude often silences young voices.

But poignant plays like “The Confession” tell you otherwise. Organizations like Khalazome Performing Arts (creators of “The Confession”), a community project dedicated to training children, exemplify how these spaces become havens. Most of the times, like me when I was in my teens, spaces of arts are mostly spaces of solace, spaces for freedom of expressing self for young people, teens, adolescents. The theatre, for many, is an escape, a place to express oneself freely, much like the Youth Parliament allows. It reinforces the Setswana wisdom: “Ngwana yo o sa leleng, o shwela tharing” – a child who does not cry out dies in the carrying cloth, akin to “a word unspoken is a lost opportunity.”

The critical need for emotional support and healing for young people in schools was a recurring theme at the youth parliament. One young Honourable member highlighted the stark reality: “No mental health support policies in SA Schools – Life Orientation is often skipped, underfunded or poorly taught.” It is our collective duty, particularly in the realm of Theatre for Young Audiences, to help fill this crucial gap.

We celebrate the “At the Crossroads” Life Skills and Life Orientation Textbook Series, to which ASSITEJ SA proudly contributed all the Creative Arts (Performing and Visual Arts) materials. This collaboration demonstrates how the arts can directly support comprehensive education. One young honourable, in her argument for Comprehensive Sexuality Education in class, acknowledged that arts programs help with vital topics like contraceptive knowledge and usage, peer pressure, promoting healthy relations among adolescents, safer sex practices, and reducing early sexual debuts.

The seriousness with which these young parliamentarians approached their platform was palpable. On a lighter, yet profoundly illustrative note, one young Honourable member made a point of order in isiXhosa, urging his peers to articulate their speeches clearly so that the translators could keep up. His reasoning was simple: if speeches are rushed or unclear, translators get lost, and if translators get lost, Honourable members get lost. This powerful clarification underscored that these young people did not come to this platform to be lost; they came to be heard. It’s akin to attending a theatre production and struggling to hear the actors, ultimately walking out without understanding the story or, more importantly, the play’s message. Their voices are golden; they are not meant to be wasted.

The depth of their commitment was further demonstrated when another young Honourable member, while passionately addressing the importance of sexual education in schools (a topic tragically relevant given instances of 10-year-olds falling pregnant and sexual abuse), fainted due to the sheer intensity and seriousness with which they treated the occasion. This honourable young one understood the gravity of having a voice and the deep desire for it to be heard. It is not every day that a child is given such a high-profile, national platform to speak.

The Children’s Sector Parliament itself was, in a way, theatrical – engaging, impressive, and deeply educational. The creative demonstration by one young Honourable, using two 5-litre bottles (one full representing government promises during elections, the other empty representing unfulfilled promises after a president’s term), was a masterclass in visual communication and political commentary.

Indeed, children are the leaders not just of tomorrow, but of today. The theatre, particularly Theatre for Young Audiences, is such a space to engage young people’s voices, to shout loud for them and with them. Their voices matter. And while the Children’s Sector Parliament is a crucial annual event, Theatre for Young Audiences speaks and represents them throughout the year, ensuring their golden voices are continuously amplified.