Across Africa, “family values” is increasingly being used in public and political conversations to define which relationships, families and identities are considered legitimate. When these conversations exclude LGBTQ+ people and other marginalised communities, the consequences are not abstract. They affect whether people feel safe to speak about who they love, who cares for them, how they build families, and whether their lives are treated with dignity. We care about this because African families are already diverse. They include biological families, single-parent families, extended families, families built through friendship, chosen families, and communities that step in when biological families cannot. Queer Africans are part of these families ; as children, parents, siblings, caregivers, partners, friends and community members. Yet public narratives about “family” can make people feel that their families do not count. We believe nobody should have to defend their right to belong to their own community. Our campaign is a counterculture effort using Activism and public action because changing laws and policies also requires changing the stories people hear about one another. When audiences in allover Africa watch films and severe creative mediums about queer families and then speak directly with filmmakers and each other, they are doing more than attending a screening: they are creating a different conversation about what African family can mean. The campaign begins with these shared cultural spaces and grows through public dialogue, media engagement, collective action and solidarity across borders. By signing and sharing this campaign, people can help demonstrate that there is public support for a broader, more inclusive conversation about African families. Building visible pressure gives decision-makers a reason to listen to communities that are often spoken about but rarely invited into the room. We are not against family values. We are asking: whose families, whose values, and who gets to decide? We want decision-makers to listen to the people whose lives are being discussed and recognise that African families already exist in many forms. Our families deserve dignity, safety, love and belonging.

Unemployment is an economic crisis, but surviving unemployment is also a mental health challenge. South Africa must respond to both. For two years, I have been unemployed. Like thousands of other young South Africans, I spent countless hours searching for work, rewriting my CV, applying for opportunities, and hoping that the next application would change everything. Most applications were met with silence or rejection. As the months passed, I realised unemployment doesn't only affect your finances. It changes how you see yourself. You begin questioning your worth. You wonder why everyone else seems to be moving forward while your life feels like it is standing still. Eventually, I needed help. I called the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), and through its helpline I was referred to a Job Seekers' Support Group. That phone call changed everything. Twice a week, I met online with other unemployed South Africans who understood exactly what I was going through. We shared job opportunities, improved one another's CVs, learnt about changes in the labour market, celebrated interviews, and encouraged one another through rejection. Most importantly, we reminded each other that unemployment is not a personal failure. It is not your identity. It is a chapter in your life, not the person you are. Without SADAG, I would never have found that support. My experience is deeply personal, but it is not unique. Across South Africa, millions of young people are facing the same uncertainty. Statistics South Africa reports that unemployment stands at 60.9% among young people aged 15–24 and 40.6% among those aged 25–34 [1]. At the same time, the World Health Organisation reports that South Africa has the fourth-highest suicide rate in Africa [2]. While unemployment is not the only cause of poor mental health or suicide, experts increasingly recognise that repeated rejection, financial pressure, and uncertainty can have a serious impact on a person's mental wellbeing. Roshni Parbhoo-Seetha, Education Project Manager at SADAG, says many unemployed young people describe feeling "hopeless, overwhelmed and stuck," while registered counsellor Vanishaa Gordhan Narotam explains that many begin to internalise the belief that they are "not good enough" or are "failing at life" [3]. Those words resonated with me because they describe feelings that so many unemployed young people experience but rarely talk about. Behind every unemployment statistic is a young person trying to hold on to hope while searching for an opportunity. When I needed help, I found it through SADAG. Thousands of other South Africans do the same every year. SADAG operates more than 30 national mental health helplines, including South Africa's only 24-hour Suicide Crisis Helpline, and supports more than 160 community-based support groups across the country [4]. These are not just numbers. They represent thousands of conversations, referrals, and moments when someone who feels alone is reminded that help is available. I know that because I am one of the people who found support through SADAG. According to SADAG Operations Director Cassey Chambers, demand for these services continues to grow [4]. This shows how important community-based mental health support has become and why organisations like SADAG play such a significant role in supporting unemployed young people. The Department of Health has recognised this reality. Dr Dudu Shiba has acknowledged that unemployment and other socioeconomic challenges are contributing to South Africa's growing mental health crisis. Through the National Mental Health Policy Framework and Strategic Plan 2023–2030, the Department has committed to strengthening community-based mental health services and has said that it works with organisations such as SADAG [2]. These commitments are encouraging because they show that the government recognises the problem, but recognising the problem is only the first step. As someone who has received help from one of these organisations, I want to understand what these commitments mean in practice. If the Department says it is working with organisations like SADAG, what does that partnership involve? How are unemployed young people accessing these services? How is the Department strengthening community-based mental health support, and how is it measuring whether these partnerships are making a difference? This petition is not asking the Department to start from scratch. It is asking the Department to show unemployed young people how its commitments are being put into practice. Government has recognised the problem. Now it must show the public how its response is helping unemployed young people. When people know where to find support and understand how the government is working with organisations already providing it, they are more likely to reach out before they reach crisis point. I know I know what one phone call meant for me. Every unemployed young person deserves the opportunity to find that same support, hope and reminder that unemployment is not the end of their story. Please sign this petition and help us call for greater transparency, accountability, and stronger community-based mental health support for unemployed young South Africans. References 1. Statistics South Africa. 2025. Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), Quarter 1: 2025. [Online]. Available at: https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=19526[Accessed 25 July 2026]. 2. Mkhwanazi, S. 2026. South Africa has fourth-highest suicide rate in Africa, the WHO says.TimesLIVE. 1 June. [Online]. Available at: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-06-01-south-africa-has-fourth-highest-suicide-rate-in-africa-the-who-says/[Accessed 25 July 2026]. 3. IOL Reporter. 2026. Youth Month: The hidden mental health crisis behind South Africa's youth unemployment rate. IOL. 15 June. [Online]. Available at: https://iol.co.za/lifestyle/health/2026-06-15-youth-month-the-hidden-mental-health-crisis-behind-south-africas-youth-unemployment-rate/ [Accessed 25 July 2026]. 4. Koteli, N. 2026. Mental health support group in South Africa spends R150k per month on suicide helpline. The Citizen. 11 June. [Online]. Available at: https://www.citizen.co.za/business/mental-health-support-group-in-south-africa-spends-r150k-per-month-on-suicide-helpline/ [Accessed 25 July 2026].

Alcohol abuse is poisoning our youth. Right now, 48% of young people between 10 and 19 are already drinking alcohol[1]. These are children who should be dreaming big, learning, and building their futures, yet they are being targeted by an industry that profits from harming them. Alcohol is pushed into young people’s lives everywhere: on billboards, in music videos, through celebrities, influencers and sports sponsorships. They are constantly told that drinking will make them confident, attractive, successful and admired. But what many people don’t know is that this kind of advertising is illegal. South Africa’s Liquor Act 59 of 2003, Regulation 7(1)(c), states: adverts may not “suggest that the consumption of liquor… is a source of success, achievement, sexual prowess, social acceptance, personal success, business or sporting achievement.”[2] Due to Minister Parks Taus’ incompetence, alcohol companies break the law every single day. The Johnnie Walker advert with Trevor Noah[3], Savanna’s Neat campaign[4], and Castle Lager’s “brewing greatness” adverts [5] all sell alcohol as a symbol of success, wealth, friendship, and joy and everything the law forbids.  We are calling on Minister Parks Tau and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to stop looking the other way and start enforcing our laws. Ban adverts that break Regulation 7(1)(c). Protect our communities, not corporate profits. Their failure to act has devastating consequences. Harmful alcohol use costs South Africa R37.9 billion every year in healthcare, policing, social harm and lost productivity[6]. Research shows that almost 50% of homicide cases in South Africa involve alcohol[7]. And 27% of fatal road crashes are linked to alcohol lives ended, families broken, and communities traumatised[8]. Young people pay the highest price. The Department’s own data shows that children who start drinking before 15 are four times more likely to become dependent on alcohol later in life[9]. When advertising tells them that alcohol is a ticket to success, it is shaping how an entire generation sees themselves and their future. Our children deserve to grow up free from predatory marketing that glamorizes something that destroys lives. If we could remove cigarette ads from our stadiums and screens, we can do the same with alcohol advertising that violates the law. By signing this petition, you are standing with parents, teachers, community leaders and young people across the country to demand real accountability. No more adverts that link alcohol with success. Enforce the law now and protect our children’s futures. Sources: [1] https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.969053/full [2] https://www.saflii.org/za/legis/consol_act/la2003107/?utm [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gYjHFM_4UM [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FJAa-Ot-Ds [5]  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM7OM7LAHc4 [6]https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/items/9932e4d4-8e47-4fcf-bbad-a8bf6c0a5914 [7] https://movendi.ngo/science-digest/alcohol-harm-in-south-africa/? [8]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363981860_Zero-tolerance_drink-driving_and_road_safety_in_South_Africa_What_are_the_options [9]https://www.thedtic.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/Teens-and-alcohol-A-guide-for-parents.pdf?

Globally, actors and activists are using processes including the G20 and Financing for Development Four to call for renewed attention to sustainability, climate resilience, debt architecture, and inclusive growth. Simultaneously, South Africa’s National Dialogue is creating space for a national reckoning to address the lack of public trust in government and the nation due amongst other things to the rise in inequality, exclusion, corruption, lack of accountability for wrongdoing and worrying instances of democratic backsliding. The dialogues connect national and global debates, feminist and ecological economics, and through conversation we hope will construct alternatives for a just, inclusive, and sustainable future. In this space, we would like to see the co-creation of new economic imaginaries that can address South Africa's intersecting crises with the urgency and creativity they demand. Join us as we unpack the historical construction of South Africa’s economy, explore feminist, ecological, and justice-based alternatives for assessing national well-being, unpack the real cost of austerity budgeting on the economy and human rights, and explore progressive tax reforms to fund a care-centred, just transition. The dialogue series will take place between August and October 2025. 

As communities from the south of Johannesburg that were historically developed under the dehumanizing Group Areas Act, we have a collective memory of living under the pain, trauma and tragedy of apartheid. As formerly oppressed people we carry in memory our united struggles against apartheid, and we therefore pledge solidarity with the oppressed and colonised people of Palestine.  We condemn apartheid Israel and will continue to support Palestine through our resources, our advocacy, our activism and mobilization. We will live to see a free Palestine. We endorse this collective petition grounded upon our values of faith, justice, freedom, peace, human dignity and human rights.  We call for the arrest of Netanyahu and declare that he is the leader of war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people. Under his leadership Israel is guilty of a crime against humanity.  We call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages and political prisoners.  We further call for food and medical aid to be distributed to the Palestinian people by credible and internationally recognised humanitarian relief organisations and not a ‘fly-by-night’ foundation, which acts in concert with apartheid Israel’s army that kills starving and desperate civilians seeking food.  We call on world leaders and nation states to ensure that a free Palestinian state is given its rightful place as a fully independent state in the world community of nations. We call for peace and peaceful co-existence of Muslims, Christians and Jews in Palestine and in the Middle East.   As concerned, committed and free South Africans, we choose to speak out against apartheid Israel. We join in our faith, beliefs, prayers and activism to see the end of apartheid Israel, and we call on local leaders and communities to join us in showing solidarity with Palestine.

South African teens are the most at-risk group when it comes to suicide, according to the South African Depression and Anxiety Group. A quarter of young South Africans experience depression and anxiety, and up to 20% of high school pupils have tried to take their own lives due to issues such as abuse and poverty. Already the quality of education in public schools is sub standard and most learners come from impoverished backgrounds with a lot of issues that affects them psychologically. Additionally, about 52% of SA teachers are abused by pupils. This shows that pupils require consistent psychological and emotional intervention. The following are reasons why public schools in South Africa should have school social workers: 1.School social workers will help address social, emotional and behavioural barriers to learning to support learners, parents, educators and the school as a community to ensure that learning and development takes place. 2. School Social Workers will bring the family (home), the school and the community perspectives to the multidisciplinary team process to facilitate better understanding of the social context of the learners. 3. School social workers will provide prevention, crisis intervention, networking for resources, restorative justice in disciplinary action with the overall aim of providing care and support to school communities within a multidisciplinary team. 4. School Social workers working will provide services to students to enhance their emotional well-being and improve their academic performance. 5. School social workers will assist in raising awareness in schools and surrounding errors in issues such as crime, violence and the importance of mental heal. Allocating every school with a social worker in public schools will assist in changing the narrative around issues such as depression, anxiety, and stress. Teachers and parents will get to understand the child (pupil) more and why they haven't performing well or acting out of character. This will help in discovering suitable learning styles for each pupil and providing them with quality education.

The number of burn victims is raising because of faulty prima stoves that explode. My sister Khensani, was unfortunately one of the victims/survivors in October 2019. She was preparing Sunday lunch for her children when all of a sudden the primus stove that she was using exploded and her face and abdomen caught fire. She was in ICU for weeks and she's still in hospital three months later at Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital. Ever since this incidence we've discovered that she hasn't been the only one to experience this horror. We've met a number of other patients who have burned because of faulty primus stoves. This is a terrible ordeal that no one should ever have to experience, life has been very difficult for the whole family ever since. Khensani has 4 handsome sons who almost lost their mother because of this, Every South African citizen SHOULD have electricity! Primus stoves should be banned.

The Lenasia Tech Grounds has been left in a terrible state for more than 20 years. In the last few months the City of Johannesburg had issued a tender to support the call by the community to upgrade the facility. Approximately 4.2 million rand was allegedly allocated by the City for this project, on a scope of work not agreed to by any of the stakeholders. The Lenasia Tech Grounds is one of the largest facilities in Johannesburg that caters to sports teams and communities in the South of Johannesburg. The facility caters to the needs from areas such as Soweto, Lenasia, Lehae, Thembilihle, Lenasia South, Lawley, Ennerdale, Orange Farm and Eldorado Park. Thousands of young and old continue to use this facility but with growing neglect many have stopped playing sport and/or have moved on to other clubs in far more privileged areas. Draining local talent and make it difficult to sustain on going sports programs. "Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people that little else does. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair"- Nelson Mandela. Unfortunately this continued neglect of the facility further entrenches the divide between communities and has only left us with despair and hopelessness. “Gauteng Cricket Board CEO Gregory Fredericks made a statement that illustrated the stark reality facing suburbs and areas associated with the Group Areas Act movement during Apartheid. After highlighting that cricket, unlike other sporting codes, requires facilities and fields that are different in that it is played over longer durations, and associated infrastructure should in fact cater to those requirements, he made explicit the point about how dehumanising it is to have clubs in the province that compete at various levels, with no access to basic amenities throughout the day. This point can be clearly understood when seen through the lens of the Tech facility In Lenasia. A spread of 8 fields, with a single built structure of toilets that are not properly maintained and have minimal functionality remain the central feature of this facility. This council facility is shared by cricketers and soccer players alike, and this in no way assists either sporting code.” (Mangera, A, Sport as a Catalyst for Community and Social Development, 2017) We, the concerned residents of the Lenasia and Thembilihle area, sports bodies, cultural groups and organisations from in and around Lenasia who make use of the facility regularly, civil society and religious bodies, are calling for accountability from the Mayor, the MMC, and all department heads responsible for this project by the City of Johannesburg. This facility caters to thousands of people from all over the region and yet no clear scope of work had been given to the relevant stakeholders and to date all the work done at the facility does not account or reflect the expenditure of the tax payer’s money. We require immediate intervention and assessment into this matter to ensure all funds can be accounted for and spent on the development of the facility. With high levels of corruption rampant within all spheres of government we demand accountability and transparency. Monies spent from the public purse must be spent in its full extent to the development of our communities and not for profiteering tenderprenuers and corrupt officials. Either money was not spent, the tender was overpriced or there was a lack of oversight and monitoring done by the city on the services provided. Our country is in dire need of ethical leadership and we hope that those responsible will take harsh measures for any wrongdoing found in the above mentioned issue. What has happened to Lenasia's Sporting Facility funds? https://soundcloud.com/radioislam/what-has-happened-to-lenasias-sporting-facility-funds https://risingsunlenasia.co.za/53264/lenasia-sports-fraternity-arms-sports-facility/ Video Call to Action: https://wp.me/p8PLB1-1w

Children from age 1 to 6 got a very innovative education and my intake of children in 1 year is the proof that We provided a holistic education .

Students are delayed to complete their studies due to outstanding results. If one subject's results are not released, they can't register that subject at the next level. At the end, they will have to come back for a full semester (6 months) or trimester (3 months), for just one subject. This actually needs an enquiry or Public Protector intervention. This has been a problem for many many years, with no improvement.

Between late 2017 and early 2018 our country went down in history for the biggest listeria outbreak in history, affecting over 1000 people and killing almost 300. Many families were robbed of their loved ones by the very thing they work to put on their table- food. Thousands of lives were affected by the decisions of a group of individuals employed by the biggest and most indispensable industry in the universe, its all good and well that the perpetrators are being held accountable for their actions and it is also commendable that they are cooperative and willing to attempt to compensate for the damage caused (though 300 fold irreversible)- my issue is not about corrective action, its in preventative action, the listeria outbreak should have opened our eyes to the fact that the giant that is our food industry is not indestructible, in fact in as much as the industry is one of our greatest assets, it can easily turn into our biggest serial killer, with unsuspecting civilians as its prey and deadly bacteria as its modus operandi- we need to implement not only corrective action but preventative action as well, surely we can't wait until another outbreak or more lives lost before we educate society that listeria is not the only food-related pathogen? That there are a handful of other deadly germs that are waiting for ideal conditions to pounce. I think Africa has always placed so much focus on food availability and food security and I feel that not enough emphasis has been placed on what we should look out for when we finally get our hands on food. We need to educate the general public on what to look out for, how to prepare and store food safely, what to do when they suspect food is unsafe etc to help prevent another negative world record again.

Ensuring our children aren't hungry is our first priority as a community, but often the cheapest foods are unhealthy and can lead to health issues in our children, now and in the future, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, joint pain and certain cancers, which can be the result of lack of access to healthy food. We asked your school questions about what food most learners buy for lunch, and most said they buy kotas from vendors with sugary drinks. Learners also bought ice lollies, sweets and ice creams. This is not a balanced diet, and what we eat affects how much we can concentrate, and how sick we will get in the future. We use to have to just worry about HIV/AIDS, TB and other diseases, but now diseases like type 2 diabetes are increasing in our communities. The other reason we are getting sicker is because greedy junk food companies are aggressively marketing their products in our schools. But we can change this, if enough of us come together, we can ensure our voices are heard by the the MECs of Education and Health. If you don’t have email, you can join the campaign for free by dialing this code on your phone *134*1994*456#