Thando speaks SMART Citizens in Action
It has been a very exciting few months in Community Partnership Programme since the second iteration of the SMART Citizens In Action project has kicked off. Community members who had all but believed that they do not have the skills and tools needed to improve their material conditions are beginning to see a path towards having their voices heard by those in power (locally and nationally).
The SMART Citizens In Action programme seeks to improve energy access in low-income communities by providing them with information, skills and tools to make their voices heard and advocate for the change they wish to see in their communities. Over a two and a half year period, participants from 8 communities in 4 provinces around the country were taught how to understand energy and electricity governance (how electricity works in different municipalities); practical steps that people can take to save on costs and electricity/energy consumption – from no-cost to high-cost interventions. Lastly, we sought to understand the common energy and electricity challenges present in both informal settlements and townships and how these communities are engaging local authorities.
What we learned is that many communities are struggling with getting the assistance they need to resolve basic service delivery challenges i.e. why some households received free basic electricity and others didn’t. Communities struggle to get access to information which is a major cause for the violent nature of protests and the gross distrust between municipalities and local communities. Other reasons are miscommunication/misinformation between these two groups which leaves communities feeling that their concerns are not seen as important due to their economic status.
In response to these and other challenges, we developed a programme to address these specific issues. SMART Citizens In Action: Rise to Power is about showing these communities where their power lies in a democratic society and what tools they will need in order to fully exercise their democratic rights to participate in decisions that will affect their communities.
Over a two and a half year period, participants will be taken through training in understanding local government; how it works, how decisions are made and the roles and responsibilities of the municipality and those of the citizens. Social accountability, learning how to read and understand budgets is critical as this often determines what the spending priorities of the national, provincial and local government are. This is information is useful to have when engaging with authorities, and is an important advocacy tool. Service delivery protests are notorious for gathering bad press as they often turn violent, with increasing intensity which result in many communities receiving negative attention to a legitimate plea for help. Therefore, campaigning skills are also critical as this will ensure that Community Based Organisations and other actors in these communities can focus their efforts on targeted and more strategic actions that can yield better results.
Though the project is still in its early stages, the workshops have already begun to show some positive results with some communities beginning to canvass their communities and gather information which will help them in achieve our objective of having effective participation in decision-making and planning of matters concerning their communities and their lives.
As the impacts of climate change increase from year to year, there will quickly come a time where there is insufficient capacity for NGOs to speak on behalf of these communities and if we can teach communities leaders to advocate for the kind of change that seeks to improve society as a whole, then we can grow together as a nation and ensure that we have a liveable planet that coming generations can be proud of.
Piece written by Thando Lukuko – Community Partnership (Project 90 by 2030)
Thando speaks SMART Citizens in Action
