Whoever goes to branch meetings called by political parties? Yet all policy initiatives begin at the branch level. Branches have to exist for a political structure to obtain. Branches unfortunately are difficult to sustain because we in South Africa do not have demarcated constituencies. But then again we live in the information age and we can have meetings and conferences via the internet. We can be members of a cyber branche and participate in approving policies of our respective parties and thereby contribute to improving service delivery.
I have formed such a cyber branch and I invite all those who have email addresses and wish to be in my branch of COP (Congress of the People) to email me at: shen@iafrica.com
This way I can keep you posted on what is happening within COP and at the same time I can interact with you and take a poll to see how you feel about the things being initiated within COP. For example, every cyber branch, if these had been in existence, could have ascertained from its membership how people felt about the dismantling of the Scorpions by the ANC government. We as members could have enriched the debate among ourselves and then the prevailing view or the dominat view could have been added to the public discourse. We could have acted with strength.
The beauty of a cyber political party is that it is operational 17 hours for 7 days every week. The secretary does not have to post any notices of meeting to members and neither does anyone have to wait for weeks or months to raise an issue. It is done on the turn. If comments or views are needed from members, these can be ascertained in the space of a few hours. Action follows fast on the heels of the request. Comments of satisfaction or dissatisfaction in respect of how the issue was handled by the branch can appear on the site for all to see and to comment on. Isn’t this fabulous? Isn’t this real democracy at work?
Normal political meetings take hours if not days to conclude and all sorts of agendas are at play making it difficult to act decisively on anything. Such meetings tax the patience to the very limit. Using the written form to communicate via the internet concentrates the mind and allows for trends and themes to be picked up quickly for a policy stance to be taken. When it comes to a request from members, a form can be filled in on the screen and by pressing the submit button it will have arrived at the Branch Headquarters in the blink of an eye lid to be procesessed. Members can also initiate blogs or comment on a blog. Decisions arrived at by the branch can be communicated by SMS.
Serious and complex matters can thus be discussed in a disciplined, efficient and professional manner. Everyone but everyone gets a chance to participate. Best of all, no one can close down the space for debate and discussion. Even better still, everyone is immediately on record. There’s no need for minutes, correction of minutes and confirmation of minutes. Cyber meetings get down to business and those who participate lose nothing by momentarily going down to water the garden or have afternoon tea before returning to the site to see how things have progressed. Members can scroll up and down and take note of how the discussion has been going.
Cyber meetings also give members the opportunity to revise their viewpoints, after reflecting on what others have had to say, so that their final views are correctly recorded. When a member of parliament is involved as the leader of a branch, members can raise questions to be put to parliament and demand action. South Africa’s parliamentarians have no real idea which issues to address because constituency offices either do not exist - or if they do - they seldom or never fulfil their intended purpose. If I have got this wrong I shall happily take correction.
In a cyber branch members can search the archive, read news, get a picture of what is going on, and network among themselves. They can contribute to the welfare of the branch, collectively support a good cause and raise public awareness in their respective localities. It doesn’t matter that two members in a party from the same household may belong to two different branches. That is how democracy should operate. Members can also freely and without any fear or anxiety raise any issue even if that issue concerns trangsgressions in respect of probity, honesty, or integrity on the part of an official. There’s no place to hide. There’s no way of muzzling the dissenting voices.
Obviously each branch will have to have a cut off point as to how many members it can accommodate. One party official can only accommodate so many people and no more. This number may be 10 000 or 20 000 but it certainly cannot be 1 000 000. Neither the system nor the individual heading the branch will be able to cope with that volume. Anyway it would be sheer optimism to believe that more than a few hundred people would participate at any one time.
Already I hear you say that this will exclude many people in our country because they do not have electricity, computers and internet connection. Bull dust, I say! Every person who is a member of the branch with access to facilities can accommodate a fellower parishoner, a worker, a customer, a plumber or a farmer who needs political assistance. Make no mistake. People are inventive and they will know where to go for help if it is being advertised and offered. We live in a country where Ubuntu is the prevailing philosophy. Members who wish to connect with others in their community can give out that they can help to raise issues for them and thereby help to accelerate service delivery to them. Social capital is something that we can all do with.
A cyber branch allows for anyone who is a South African citizen, within or outside the country, to participate in a branch. Members who are outside the country can contribute new perspectives and ideas on given topics. What a boon this can be! Each cyber branch, on account of the Proportional Representation System, will obviously be built around a particular political personality. Those for instance who wish to participate in my branch will choose to do so because they fancy working with me and like my style. Once their membership is approved their names will be included on a register. Anyone who tends to be vulgar, abusive, racist or obstructionist can have his \ her membership revoked by taking a poll among the members. The members name will then be taken out of the register and further participation will be disallowed for whatever period is agreed on.
A cyber branch can have many officials, each fulfilling a strategic purpose. If a branch is large and vibrant, it will need to have its own server and offer a variety of media to cater for the different needs. Intergenerational interests can be addressed by suitable engagement with each group through whatever is the appropriate media for that group. The fact that a data base of answers and responses will exist will allow for answers to similar questions to be consistent. The Congress of the People is already acutely alive to the need to bring young people into political discussion and participation.
At a time in our country when crime is rampant, politics is drifting, the economy is in a cruch, climate change is threatening, food security concerns are mounting, job losses are occurring, education is in the doldrums and young lives are being destroyed through drug addiction, it is more urgent than ever to bring political interaction into the twenty first century. This is the tool of the time.
So, if you like the idea of joining my cyber branch of the Congress of the People why don’t you email me at: shen@iafrica.com. so that we can get started right away. If not, thanks anyway for giving me the opportunity of sharing my thoughts with you. I promise that whatever I promise I will deliver and how will I be able to duck out of it with all of you sitting as the jury in front of your screens?
