South Africa's Struggle For Quality Infrastructure

CHALLENGE

To help implement a new law passed by the supreme court in South Africa guaranteeing basic “norms and standards” in all South African public schools.

SOLUTION

Develop a video and distribution strategy to push for citizens to hold the government of South Africa to adhere to its promises to implement the legal decision and ensure basic norms and standards in all South African public schools.

OVERVIEW

After successful litigation by the Equal Education Legal Centre at the Supreme Court of South Africa, Equal Education, it’s partner organization, needed a way to monitor and ensure the implementation of a decision guaranteeing basic “norms and standards” in public schools across South Africa. At the time of production, many schools in South Africa’s poorest provinces lacked basic structures and capacity to provide a good education to its students, ranging from no toilets, to broken windows and unsafe structures, to lack of materials for children to learn. We worked with Equal Education advocates and lawyers to understand the landscape of schools in South Africa and what would be needed to implement the legal decision. We then worked with Equal Education, as well as grassroots communities they work with, to conduct over 35 interviews with students, teachers, civil society leaders, government officials, advocates, lawyers, and others during a 12 day production covering over 2000 miles in poor provinces and townships in the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Equal Education used this video across South Africa to raise awareness about the right to basic norms and standards in all South African public schools and the need to hold the government accountable to the promises set by the legal decision.

impact

One of the key impacts of this video was remote, resourceless schools knowing they were being seen and heard, and not forgotten about. Other impacts of the video were mobilizing community and Equal Education volunteer support to pressure the government to fulfill its commitment to basic norms and standards in all schools. Equal Education used the video to prove that norms and standards were far from being met, helping to implement the law requiring that all schools in South Africa be met with basic, working facilities in environments where students can learn. 

Directed by Abby Goldberg. Created in collaboration with the New Media Advocacy Project and Equal Education.