Making a simple phone call can feel impossible in our community. Imagine being in a dangerous situation and unable to reach the police or an ambulance because your phone has no signal. It's a terrifying thought. This is our current reality, and we are tired of it. We desperately need the government to step in and help us. The struggles we face without reliable internet are so frustrating. When some of us are trying to work from home, the signal keeps dropping, making it hard to do our jobs and getting us in trouble with our bosses. Even our children are suffering; they can’t do their schoolwork properly because they cannot research. We cannot even entertain ourselves by streaming our favourite shows online. The lack of the internet is affecting our lives in so many ways.  We all have to come together and request the government to do something. Enough people signing this petition will show the government just how serious this is and Act. 

 According to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2021), approximately 81% of Grade 4 learners in South Africa cannot read for meaning in any language  (Mullis et al., 2023). This represents a regression from the 2016 PIRLS cycle, where 78% of learners were unable to read for meaning, indicating that literacy outcomes have worsened over time (Howie,2017). Further evidence in the Funda Uphumelele National Reading Panel Report (Department of Basic Education, 2025) highlights that:   • By the end of Grade 3, approximately 15% of learners cannot read a single word • Learners assessed in English were more likely to reach minimum benchmarks than those assessed in other languages, reflecting persistent inequities in literacy outcomes.  These findings confirm that a significant proportion of children are not acquiring foundational reading skills during the critical early years of schooling. Without intervention, these learners are at increased risk of long-term academic underperformance, school dropouts and reduced economic opportunity. Public libraries are uniquely positioned as accessible, community-based institutions capable of providing structured after-school literacy support, developmental programming and safe learning environments.   Considering the above, this By-law seeks to formalise the role of municipal libraries in supporting literacy development, educational equity, and lifelong learning through structured programming, qualified staffing, and regulated child-safeguarding mechanisms. References  1. Department of Basic Education. (2025). Funda Uphumelele National Survey: Summary Report. 2. Howie, S. J., Combrinck, C., Roux, K., Tshele, M., Mokoena, G., & McLeod Palane, N. (2017). PIRLS literacy 2016: South African highlights report (Grade 4). Centre for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA). 3. Mullis, I., von Davier, M., Foy, P., Fishbein, B., Reynolds, K., & Wry, E. (2023). PIRLS 2021 International Results in Reading. https://doi.org/10.6017/lse.tpisc.tr2103.kb5342 

The Cuban people and the Cuban revolution are under attack. As Africans who believe in justice and self-determination we commit to support the Cuban people materially and in principle against the attacks of U.S imperialism.  For more than 70 years, Cuba has supported African liberation and sovereignty in words, action, and spirit. From the fields of Angola in the fight against the southern African apartheid regime, to hospitals in the Caribbean during the COVID-19 pandemic, to the safety and protection of African liberation fighters Assata Shakur and Nehanda Abiodun, Cubans have maintained principled and revolutionary solidarity with African peoples around the world.  The United States regime cannot erase, however hard it tries, the history of Cuba that is written in the soil across the lands of Africa. While words are insufficient in the face of the brutal attack being waged against Cuba by the United States, we write because, to echo Che Guevara's words in 1964, "we must fulfill the obligation of our...people to state clearly and categorically to the world that we morally support and stand in solidarity with peoples who struggle anywhere in the world to make a reality of the rights of full sovereignty." There have been few states willing to stand to the imperialist onslaught that comes when you dare to affirm life, not capital, when you dare to affirm freedom, not subjugation. Despite the imperial attempts at strangulation and sabotage, Cuba has not betrayed its revolutionary commitment.  While the Cuban people have been through a special period in the past, the coercion, violence, scale and coordination of what is happening in this moment is different. We will not be silent nor complicit because we know that the defeat of Cuba would be the defeat of us all. It would mean, we are all on our knees, kissing the ring of multiple empires. We, the people of this world who believe in life and the planet, cannot afford another defeat. This is not Cuba before, but because of, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Western Sahara, Palestine, Rojava, Venezuela, Iran, and all people facing the wrath of imperialists.   We are not romantic about any political project. We can debate what is working in the Cuban socialist project, what could have worked without a choking blockade, and what didn’t work for the people. But what is important now is not to let imperialism win, again.  Act now in defense of Cuba!  Here are examples of what you can do:  • Sign onto this statement and assert your resistance to imperialism.  • Donate materials and funds to Solidarity for Cuba groups. • Join the delegation to Cuba and future delegations. • Engage in political education with your community to expand the understanding of the Cuban revolution, the criminal U.S blockade and the history of African-Cuban solidarity. 

Our children are missing classes because there’s no water. Even if they come home, there is still none, and we cannot afford to buy. The bathrooms at school are filthy, and there’s no drinking water. Recently, the municipality put Jojo tanks at the school, but the water is dirty and unsafe [1]. This situation is denying our kids their right to an education. As parents, we are deeply worried that they will fall behind. We must unite as a community and urge the municipality to take action now, so our children can learn and thrive without these challenges. References [1] South Africa: No Teaching At Botshabelo School for Nine Months Due to Water Shortages by Molefi Sompane for Health E-News https://allafrica.com/stories/202603030471.html.

EXCLUSION MASQUERADING AS PROCEDURE We acknowledge the City's position that changes to Ward Committee Rules must follow formal legislative processes and that community organisations should register on the Community Organisation Database (COD) in order to be informed of when this process will take place. However, we reject the notion that only registered organisations will be part of this process. The City cannot admit that a formal legislative process is required and then proceed to include only ‘registered organisations’ in that process. This would directly contravene section 12(3)(b) of the Systems Act, as well as the constitutional spirit of participatory democracy. The current ward committee rules were adopted without meaningful public input. They fundamentally undermine democracy at the local level: • Ordinary residents cannot vote for ward committee members, stripping individuals of direct representation. • Participation is restricted to registered organisations, marginalising informal community structures, unregistered groups, and individuals. • Ward councillors and subcouncils hold excessive discretion over sector allocation without public input. • The rules permit disproportionate representation for improvement districts, which are not independent from the City and whose sole interest in any given ward is purely economic. • The 10-seat limitation and lack of subcommittee mechanisms reduce representativity in large, diverse wards. Furthermore, a 30-day notice-and-comment process on pre-drafted rules is insufficient for meaningful participation in a deeply unequal city where access to information and digital literacy varies wildly.

This issue affects far more than one household. Across South Africa, many children are raised primarily by unmarried mothers who have never been married to the father of their child. In these families, the child may bear the mother’s surname, reside permanently with her, and depend on her for daily care, financial support, and long-term decision-making. Yet when it comes to something as fundamental as obtaining a passport, the system treats these families identically to intact or formerly married households without recognising the practical differences in caregiving realities. The current framework, administered by the Department of Home Affairs, can unintentionally create financial and procedural barriers. Where consent cannot easily be secured, primary caregivers are often directed toward High Court litigation — a costly and time-consuming process that many South Africans simply cannot afford. For unemployed graduates, working-class mothers, and families navigating economic hardship, this becomes more than an administrative inconvenience. It can delay access to employment opportunities, educational prospects, and lawful international travel that may directly benefit the child. This petition is not about excluding fathers or undermining child protection safeguards. It is about ensuring that regulations reflect lived realities while preserving appropriate protections against abduction or misuse. A differentiated administrative process with affidavits, proof of residence, and reasonable notification measures would maintain accountability while removing unnecessary procedural burdens. Reform in this area would demonstrate responsiveness to modern family structures and alignment with the constitutional principle that a child’s best interests are paramount. Public support matters because regulatory reform rarely occurs without visible civic engagement. When citizens speak collectively and respectfully, it signals to decision-makers that a policy issue is not isolated, but systemic. Building public awareness and pressure increases the likelihood that the Department will prioritise review, initiate consultation, and consider structured amendments. By joining this campaign, you are not opposing safeguards. Rather, you are advocating for fairness, administrative justice, and practical reform that strengthens families rather than complicates their path forward.

The auctioning of valuable public assets prioritises wealthy private developers over the constitutional right to housing and dignity. It represents a form of neocolonialism, denying black and indigenous people access to land while reinforcing historical patterns of exclusion.  We hold that public land is not surplus stock. It is one of the last remaining instruments available to address the enduring violence of apartheid spatial planning – a system of practice conceived by the colonial Dutch and British and engineered into policy under the National Party that forcibly removed communities, segregated opportunity, and entrenched generational inequality. We recognise that land in Cape Town holds the memory of genocide, dispossession, and the ongoing epistemic trauma and violence against the living descendants of the |Xam and Khoena peoples.  That Cape Town remains one of the most spatially unequal cities in the world. The daily commute from the periphery to economic centres, the overcrowded informal settlements, the persistent land hunger. We know these are not accidents: they are the living architecture of apartheid, still embedded in land ownership and urban design.  We believe that to dispose of public land without first exhausting its potential for social housing, restitution, affordable housing, and community infrastructure is to perpetuate that injustice. 

The right to trade at this market arises from long-standing, continuous, and customary use, not from temporary municipal permission. The proposed Informal Trading Plan seeks to replace these established trading practices with a permit-based system. Permits that are renewable, limited, or revocable place generational livelihoods at risk and create ongoing insecurity for families who depend entirely on this market for survival. The Trafalgar Flower Market is a living heritage space and an important part of Cape Town’s cultural and economic history. Regulation that threatens displacement or exclusion undermines this heritage and erode the dignity of long-standing traders.

For the past few years, parents have raised concerns about bullying, missing belongings, and unsafe behavior during scholar transport rides. These concerns are often raised to the schools or the taxi association that runs the scholar transports.  In some cases, parents only discovered the seriousness of the situation after repeatedly asking questions. This shows a clear gap in supervision and communication. Transport is not just about getting children from one place to another; it is an extension of their school day. If it is not properly managed, children are placed at risk. This issue affects more than one family. It affects a whole community of vulnerable learners who rely on adults to protect them. When systems fail to provide proper oversight, it sends the message that the safety of children with special needs is not a priority. That is unacceptable. Public pressure is often what pushes decision-makers to act. When many community members sign and stand together, it shows that this is not an isolated complaint but a shared concern. By joining this campaign, you are helping to demand simple, practical solutions, supervised transport, clear safety policies, and accountability. Together, we can ensure that every child travels to school with dignity, safety, and protection.

Currently, our common law regards MAiD as no different from murder in cold blood. This is quite wrong, on both a personal level and as public policy. On the contrary, we regard doctors as caring and compassionate when they enable a competent patient, who voluntarily requests assistance with dying on account of unbearable and intractable suffering, because of disease or injury, to die a dignified death. Hence, with this petition, we wish to show solidarity with DignitySA’s High Court application because we believe that MAiD: • Is an act of compassion motivated by basic ethical values of equality, dignity, freedom of choice, and life;  • Is a constitutional right grounded in the rights to equality, human dignity, bodily and psychological integrity (which includes the right to security in and control over one’s body) and freedom and security of the person in our Constitution’s Bill of Rights; and • Should therefore be recognised as a legitimate medical option at the end of life, or when suffering becomes intractable and unbearable, thus locating MAiD on a continuum with palliative care. #DecrimMAiDinSA #DignitySA #OurLivesOurChoices www.dignitysouthafrica.org

We feel like we are being taken advantage of, and it’s disheartening because we know how desperately we need these internship positions. It’s painful to see people in the department disregard our agreements, believing we won’t speak up out of fear of losing what we desperately need. We urgently need the department to clarify the expectations mentioned above. We are exhausted from being treated this way. It’s time for us to come together and demand the clarity we deserve, to stand up for ourselves and ensure our voices are heard.

Millions in Mzansi cannot afford to put food on the table. The Basic Income Grant will allow people to afford basic needs and lead decent livelihoods. Research by economists and experts has shown that not only is the BIG affordable, but it can also generate far greater economic growth.