South African cities and towns are deteriorating at an alarming pace. Fixlocal is a national project in response to the lack of action and accountability shown by local authorities. The dismal state of affairs have wide-spread repercussions, as all citizens are subjected to declining socio-economic conditions.
There are countless examples of active citizens and business owners who serve their local communities by tackling some of their local challenges head-on and/or holding their municipalities or local authorities accountable. However, what local citizens don’t have is a central repository where they are able to find inspiration and guidance from locals in other communities who faced the same problems. People who want to help, often find themselves having to climb a mountain, and this either deters them from starting at all, or they have to start from scratch – often reinventing the wheel without knowing it.
Fixlocal aims to be a web based go-to where locals will be able to find a range of guidelines and tools to help them fix their specific challenge. The website will collate examples of best practice for specific problems and contexts, inspiring and helping others with similar situations.
Should local authorities come on board and do exemplary work, Fixlocal will highlight their efforts. People will also be encouraged to submit their Fixlocal stories on the site and ask for a media partner to report on their successes.
Fixlocal will partner with businesses, faith-based organisations and NGOs to make this possible.
Should you wish to connect with Garth Japhet to learn more or to support this exciting initiative, please contact the ALI SA offices to facilitate an introduction.
As part of our renewed fellowship engagement strategy and to inspire and encourage ALI Fellows to initiate, continue or collaborate on their ventures, ALI SA plans to host more such Venture Workshops in the coming year. Should you wish to share your venture ideas for brainstorming and feedback amongst the ALI fellowship, please contact the ALI SA offices to schedule a venture workshop.
