Rob Hutchinson on active citizenship

Solutions With David Ansara

English - June 12, 2022 05:00 - 43 minutes - 99.1 MB - ★★★★★ - 1 rating
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Previous Episode: Phumlani Majozi on liberating South Africa's economy

Next Episode: Piet le Roux & Russell Lamberti on building an independent business community

What role does civil society play in resisting a hostile and interfering government? In this episode of the Solutions With David Ansara podcast, I speak with Rob Hutchinson, the founder and Chairman of civil society organisation DearSA, about how to become an active citizen.

Rob and I discuss his reasons for starting DearSA, and how its public participation process differs from traditional approaches, such as petitions.

DearSA achieved prominence during the Covid-19 lockdowns, but its work is not over. Rob shines some light on the SA government's ongoing Covid regulations, and reveals DearSA's plans to challenge the validity of the National Health Amendment Bill in court.

We also discuss how DearSA leverages technology to reach audiences online, as well as its funding model and future objectives.

We close the conversation by reflecting on the state of democracy in South Africa, and why it is important for ordinary people to make their voices heard.

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Introduction

(00:48) Rob Hutchinson on how DearSA works

(04:52) Rob Hutchinson on recent DearSA campaigns

(10:38) Rob Hutchinson on SA's ongoing Covid restrictions

(18:42) Rob Hutchinson on DearSA's upcoming court case

(20:44) Rob Hutchinson on how DearSA uses technology

(27:20) Rob Hutchinson on the state of democracy in SA

(34:50) Rob Hutchinson on fundraising

(37:28) Rob Hutchinson on public participation

(41:39) Conclusion

RESOURCES

DearSA website: https://dearsafrica.org/