Building a social movement is an ‘extreme sport’, so how do you do it?

Advocacy work does bring about change — but it is no easy task.

This was the shared sentiment of civil society leaders Noncedo Madubedube and Mark Heywood during a virtual discussion organised by the National Early Childhood Alliance and ilifa Labantwana. They discussed what the early childhood development sector can learn from advocacy in the education and health sectors as it develops a national movement.

Madubedube is general secretary of Equal Education, a community and membership-based organisation that advocates for quality and equal education in South Africa. Heywood is the co-founder of the Treatment Action Campaign, former director of Section27 and currently editor of Maverick Citizen.

The sector saw an unprecedented surge in advocacy in 2020, said Tess Peacock, moderator of the discussion and an ilifa Labantwana associate. It compelled the government to provide it with Covid-19 relief. It won two court cases – one to reopen the sector during lockdown and another to force government to pay centres their subsidies. Out of this rose the Real Reform for ECD Campaign, which garnered over 1,000 submissions on the Children Amendments Bill.

Despite this success, some people in the sector feel uncomfortable with protest and fear that antagonising government will shut doors, Peacock explained.

If a constitutional right is not being fulfilled then we should stand up and demand it, said Heywood. “One of the principles which underpins the Constitution is that protest is legitimate – to speak out, picket and denounce in order to claim rights is part of the social contract of the new South Africa,” he explained.

He added that people should not be afraid: “We must always remember that government officials and politicians are public servants. They are there to help realise the equality and social justice which underlines our Constitution.”

Both Heywood and Madubedube have been instrumental in building their respective organisations. How did they do it?

Power is built when people understand their rights. The Treatment Action Campaign was borne out of a need for people to understand treatment as a right – this broke the silence around HIV because people became their own advocates and a social movement began to form, Heywood explained.

“We understood that we needed a movement. We were never going to make change if it was just a group of middle-class people like me operating out of Wits University and a few lawyers. They play an important role, but they can’t bring about deep, deep change.

“Change happens only when millions of people take responsibility into their own hands,” he said, adding that active citizenship makes the difference.

“Building a social movement is an extreme sport,” started Madubedube. It requires patience, building from the ground up and constant reflection. It requires one to work towards ideals never experienced before and planning under present circumstances for a better future.

It is essential to use a multi-pronged approach to bring everyone along in your advocacy, she explained. Equal Education encourages its members to think of local issues and then develop sustainable strategies for that specific context and involving that specific community.

Organisations need to spend energy and resources in connecting with communities and educating them about the issue, she said. Traditional and social media are powerful channels for communication.

Both Madubedube and Heywood stated that building relationships and coalitions are crucial and one should take the time to educate people about your issue.