Citizenry goes a long way beyond voting
II was dragged to an off-grid campsite recently, our phones were taken away, effectively stripped from the addictive sphere of social media and the globalised world inside the pale blue gleam of the screen.
The reasoning behind the jettisoning of our phones was to allow us to be fully present and bond with one another in preparation for the year ahead as student leaders in the university. As a passionate MobiSAM advocate around the camp fire, I started to preach yet again the gospel of MobiSAM, what it is, and why it is the most innovative form of citizen participation in Makana.
The group was large and demographically mixed, ranging between 20 and 26 years. Yet chatting about how they understand their role as citizens of a country it quickly became apparent that, “active citizenship” was a futuristic thing, something to do when you are filing tax claims or raising a family.
It dawned on me then that MobiSAM’s biggest challenge will not be the technical things, but in fostering a strong sense of what it means to actively participate in local governance processes as a young person in South Africa.
As a social scientist, wracked my mind trying to find the root cause of this and realised that in most cases, citizen engagement has been narrowly defined to mean “voting” arguably to fit a narrow agenda – as has been the global trend. People are therefore socialised into having to wait to be an adult (18 years in South Africa) before they are even considered as autonomous people old enough to actively engage in shaping how they are governed and by whom. Such a view is detrimental as it reinforces the idea that politics is a “distant” activity they will be invited to join when they are judged to be “rightful” citizens”.
I am so glad MobiSAM has a different perspective. I work with a team that understands that the youth are paramount to this process of citizen participation. There is a comprehensive understanding which aims to facilitate more youthful participation. To be part of today’s active solutions MobiSAM provides many people with a platform that fits neatly in the palm of our hands.
After the end of the camp, the cellphones were returned to their owners. With everyone focused on the number of WhatsApp messages they had received, it became clear while we had the ability to chat with loved ones and check on what’s been happening on Facebook, we could also make our voices heard.
I am excited that this year MobiSAM will be working with the Upstart Youth development project found in the heart of Joza in Grahamstown whose vision is to “provide scaffolds for life for Eastern Cape youth through the delivery of experiences and opportunities that develop their skills to make them become active citizens” and also with the 3500 person strong army of Oppidan students who stay off campus and are therefore victims of poor service delivery.
It is my hope that when the process of unlearning to relearn begins, it will become clear that citizen participation goes beyond the legal status, or political party affiliation to focus on the collection of roles that individuals can play in forming, maintaining and changing their communities every day; and that in their numbers, young people are in a unique position.
MobiSAM is neatly carving itself in the history books as it takes the Makana District into a slow, steady revolutionary process of seeking to improve the communication between local government and residents.
• Leroy Maisiri is the MobiSAM Communications and Citizen Engagement Officer