Good Day, Bahlali

In my updates, I have been telling you that our work is bigger than just this effort of rejecting Minister Tau’s Draft Amendments to the NCA. I’ve also said that our efforts cannot end with the victory of the withdrawal. 

Even with the Draft Amendments to the NCA that we succeeded in getting Tau to withdraw, there is more work that needs to be done, such as lobbying and applying pressure to ensure that the problematic provisions that currently enable the blacklisting of student debtors need to be done away with. 

A better set of regulations needs to be adopted, including insofar as opening access to finance for SME’s. We need to not only defend the victory, but also research and vigorously advocate for the kinds of positive changes that we need. Do keep an eye out for my next updates, as I will be sharing our next steps with you in the coming days and asking for you to continue walking this journey with us. 

There is much more civic work we need to do and collective action we need to be engaged in, outside this one process. We need to be involved in other public processes, too. This is how we create lasting change that improves our lives in general terms. 

Today’s update, therefore, is about that “other” work we are doing – actively campaigning for change in our municipalities and the amazing victory we have achieved. 

Between June and July, we did a Survey on Fixing Municipalities. In that initiative, we specifically asked Abahlali to identify and suggest solutions to the many issues we experience daily. We committed to sharing these with the Department of Cooperative Governance (the one responsible for Municipalities), with a view to having these included as the Department thinks about what changes are needed, especially ahead of the next election in 2026 or 2027. 

I’m excited to share that we have succeeded. Yesterday, I published a newsletter detailing exactly which of our proposals have been accepted for consideration as part of the changes that must be put in place. 

Please go ahead and read the newsletter for the details. It’s available here: https://fightingforbetter.substack.com/p/we-did-it-again-our-proposals-for

When you are on the site, make sure you subscribe to the newsletter (https://figthingforbetter.substack.com  so you can keep receiving these insights directly and stay informed of the civic work we’re doing. 

Let’s keep fighting to create the South Africa of our best dreams, together. 

Sabelo