South Africans are using petitions to demand change from local councils. Read about recent petitions on Change.org here.

Petitions are a critical tool for citizens to the raise awareness for their cause and to create a groundswell of support to tackle the problems they face in dealing with their local authorities.****

The petitions from the past few months on www.change.org show a wide range of challenges that citizens are grappling with. The issues range from billing crises to a lack of service delivery and from broken streetlights, interrupted refuse collections and a need to address high crime. The petitions come from across the municipalities, speaking to a widespread dissatisfaction in the performance of local governments, countrywide.

Some of the recent petitions on change.org include:

• Windmill Park Ext 17 (Ekurhuleni): Boom-gate petition created on 21 June.
• **Vanderbijlpark (Emfuleni): End substation fires, ensure reliable power **created on 15 June.
• Sasolburg (Metsimaholo): Fix refuse collection created on 29 June
• Midvaal (Savannah City): Demand consultation on housing development created on 14 July.
• City of Johannesburg (city-wide): “Sort out” town-planning & by-laws enforcement created on 20 July.

*Picture credit: Sollange Brenis - Unsplash