My Vote Counts held a 3-day convening in Franshoek, Western Cape in July 2023. The convening was attended by 50 representatives of social movements, labour federations and NGO’s, including: Abahlali baseMjondolo, South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), Equal Education, Mining Affected Communities United in Action, National Youth Coalition, and others.
The aim was to harness a clear commitment from civil society to play an active role in electoral politics leading up to the 2024 general elections; by being on the side of, and focusing on, the voters, and thereby energising them to take part.
The main sessions covered:
• Adopting principles and objectives for the convening.
• Defining the current political moment in South Africa.
• Exploring the threats and opportunities that the 2024 elections presents.
• Lessons learnt from international activists’ experiences.
• Exploring strategic voting.
• Adopting collective objectives for collective campaigns towards the 2024 elections.
The convening reached consensus on working towards collective campaigns in the run up to the 2024 general election:
1. Use the elections to centre people’s demands.
2. Organise mass voter turnout.
3. Protect the integrity of the election process.
4. Build a political alternative, beyond 2024.
Click here to read the full report.
