Communication Rights Action Campaign (CRAC) The Communication Rights Action Campaign (CRAC) was formed in August 2004 by civil society organisations in South Africa. These organisations include SANGOCO itself and its members particularly:
– SANGONeT
– FXI (Freedom of Expression Institute)
– Civicus
– Creative Commons
– Open knowledge Network (OKN)
CRAC is concerned about the high cost of electronic communication in South Africa and the devastating affect it has on furthering and perpetuating the digital divide, especially among the poor. The only landline network provider in South Africa, Telkom, has acted in their own interests of profit, thereby sacrificing communities’ hope of ever accessing crucial information and support from outside. This is in contravention of the universal service mandates laid down by the Department of Communication. Based on this concern, CRAC committee members and their organisations organised a round table on the ICT empowerment Charter and the Second Network Operation. The discussions on these issues will be fed into the two processes and the upcoming People’s Court on Communication Rights to be held on the 17th October 2004. Social Security SANGOCO’s core mission is to eradicate poverty in a context where wealth and power have historically been the preserve of a racially-defined minority. SANGOCO’s main programmes are consistent with the fight against poverty. SANGOCO members gather every two years at NGO Week to reflect the impact of the sector’s work and identify issues that are crosscutting in nature and affect the sector broadly. These issues are then taken up by the Coalition as core campaigns. Presently SANGOCO runs a Social Security Campaign, Peoples Budget Campaign, and Land and Food Security Campaign.
A C E S S (Alliance for Children’s Entitlement to Social Security) Calls to Extend the Child Support Grant to age 18 ACESS, an alliance of almost 1500 children’s organisations across South Africa, is calling for an extension of the Child Support Grant (CSG) of R 180 per month to all vulnerable children up to the age of 18, as part of a comprehensive package made up of cash grants, health care, education, nutrition and water and sanitation. It is currently only available for children under the age of 14 whose caregivers earn less than R 800.00 per month (in urban areas) and R 1 100.00 per month (in rural areas).