Mobilising masses through mobile technology
Free-to-use mobile applications, alongside WhatsApp, are becoming the way social groups organise and manage civil action in many poor communities.
The use of mobile applications is said to have grown exponentially in Sub-Saharan Africa, and disadvantaged communities on the West Rand are fast realising the power of technology, as more of them are now using mobile applications (apps) to organise and plan important community meetings.
According to Luke Jordan, the founder of a mobile app called Grassroot, more and more communities are realising the cost-effectiveness and benefits of using technology to challenge the issues in their communities.
Image: Supplied
“Mobile tools and apps have taken on the task of redefining the ways in which communities across the country go about bringing together small social groups and massive community organisations. This is mostly because the ability to convene or organise mass meetings previously required skill, time and money. What apps such as Grassroot, Amandla.mobi and Whatsapp are doing is eradicating the red tape when it comes to communal activism at grassroot levels. Communities are now able to convene, vote and highlight concerns by conveniently clicking on a button.”
Luke added that among low-income and marginalised communities, social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter are not very important, and have limited reach.
“Ward councillors or committees will generally use WhatsApp groups (not Facebook or Twitter) to post messages or spread information.
This has been seen to be effective, but also has its limitations as it requires data or a particular type of smartphone. Whatsapp does not reach everyone, especially if background data has been switched off.”
To tackle the limitations of digital reach, Jordan has created a free-to use mobile application which allows people to convene, vote and plan important events without excessive use of data or airtime. The Grassroot app, which is the most commonly used in Tshepisong, Soweto and other parts of the West Rand, has over 36 000 subscribers to date. The app is run by a flexible team of part-time contributors, senior developers and Grassroot ambassadors.
“Grassroot was born from the need to create a platform that allows communities and marginalised groups to speak in a unified voice. In fact, one of the most notable successes of the app is how it has been instrumental in bringing foward the issues confronted by the country’s poor. Recently, one of our field workers discovered that residents in Ebumnandini, an informal settlement in the West of Tshepisong do not receive basic services from their municipality. Through their use of the app, the Ebumnandini residents were then able to communicate their challenges to their municipality and community leaders,” Luke said.
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