Former Democratic Alliance (DA) and CEO of Ground Work Collective Mbali Ntuli has warned those who are not going to vote that nothing will change while encouraging the youth to go out and exercise their democratic right.
South Africans are going to vote for the seventh administration on 29 May 2024 to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each of the nine provinces.
Ntuli said she gets angry when people don’t want to vote because voting is just the beginning as they also have to exert pressure to those elected to deliver their promises.
She was speaking to the Voice On The Move Radio where she said shared that she decided to form her organisation out of frustration as what should have been done by politicians to change people’s lives was not done.
She said it was an easy decision for her to leave politics as she is not defined by occupying a high position but she enjoys working with people especially those who are in the disadvantaged communities which are lacking a lot of resources.
Ground Work Collective aims to address the issue of food production and access to water.
Secondly, it is upskilling entrepreneurship and to help the youth to get access to employment opportunities.
Thirdly, she said her organisation engages the communities about civic participation and democracy where they teach the communities about how the government operates and how they can in turn use that to empower themselves.
Her organisation has been helping with encouraging the South African youth to register since last year.
She encouraged those who are not familiar with the government processes to visit her website for more information so that they will be empowered.
Ground Work Collective has observers across the country who will also be making sure that “we are protecting our democracy without leaving that to the political parties to do so”.
One of the organisation’s independent observers is anti-racism activist Zulaikha Patel who became a symbol of the fight against Pretoria Girls High School’s policy regarding black girls’ hair in 2016 at the age of 13.
Ntuli is inviting South Africans who are willing to work with her organisation to fill in their details via www.groundworkcollective.co.za