By NYX MCLEAN
As the editors of Grocott’s Mail, Rod Amner and I have previously written about the rich flow of information sharing and action-oriented discussion in several neighbourhood- and ward-based WhatsApp groups.
But while Wards 4 and 8 were abuzz, we struggled to hear voices from other parts of the city.
To fill these gaps, we asked all 14 ward councillors if they had WhatsApp or other social media groups where they were in conversation with their constituents. We received no response except from ward 14, who added us to a stakeholder group.
We have made calls for councillors to form groups for months now. We have texted to request this, too, with little to no response.
This week in conversation with our team, we decided that we would turn to our community and ask you to help us champion ward groups on WhatsApp.
How will it work?
- You will reach out to us if you are interested in championing a ward group;
- If more than one person wants to champion a group, we will put you in contact with each other so that you can collaborate on this group;
- You will invite others in your ward to join the group;
- You will encourage members to share their service delivery issues, as well as other community issues in this group;
- We will ask you to add a Grocott’s Mail team member to the group so that we can keep an eye on the key issues;
- From all the groups, we at Grocott’s Mail will publish a weekly list of the critical problems affecting all wards;
- We will support you in advocating for change.
How do you apply?
Send us an email to grocottscommunity@ru.ac.za or send us a message through Facebook Messenger with the following:
- Subject line: Ward champion
- Name:
- Surname:
- Ward:
- Cellphone number:
We will contact you at the end of May to form these groups.
Please let us know if you already have a community or ward WhatsApp group. We would love to support you in doing the community work.
