LA PRUEBA EN LOS PROCESOS DE FILIACIÓN
3.1. Concepto de prueba
In 2006 AbM expanded, from Kennedy to other informal settlements. This geographic expansion meant an increase in the demand for phone usage – both landline and mobile phones.200
With the establishment of the AbM office in Kennedy, in 2007, and the availability of a landline, most communication among members from different settlements took place through the landline. The landline was used mainly by members working at the
organisational level, to keep in contact with AbM’s branches; to arrange visits and meetings; to receive inquiry calls from external organisations; and to communicate with supporters, lawyers working on AbM cases, and government officials. The office landline was often, and still is, very busy and it is a key communication channel for the movement (Chance, 2011a). It is an important asset of the movement – paid for by AbM fund raising efforts.
For those who have access to the office, the landline is also a way to reduce the costs incurred by personal mobile phones. The landline may only be used for AbM related activities and it is a major saving for some members.201
Generally, members’ use of mobile phones for AbM related activities included
communicating with the AbM office, with other members, lawyers, media, supporters and a large array of purposes regarding movement activities and the general needs of
200 In the beginning, AbM was a very localised organisation, most of the communities involved were very close to each other – mainly Kennedy, Foreman road and Pemary Ridge informal settlements.
Communication was mainly face-‐to-‐face and to a certain extent, through mobile phones (Chance, 2010a)
201 As one member explained: “Sometimes I go to the office just because I need to make calls, I need to communicate”. However, when he is not in the office – and if he receives SMS or ‘please call me’ that demands a reply – if he does not have the funds to call the person back, he forwards the messages to the Secretary General – who is mostly at the office – asking her to return the call (AbM member 12, 2010).
their respective communities. Some of these members’ mobile phones operated as hubs between their communities and AbM, passing information, mobilizing for all sorts of activities and supporting each other. In some cases, mobile phones are also used to remind people of events and actions that require support – e.g. court cases.
The high cost of airtime in South Africa (Duncan, 2010; Smith, 2009) was brought up by all interviewees, and cited as an overall problem for AbM members. Some members (e.g. those with leadership positions) were affected more than others by the high expenditure on airtime, this is further discussed in section 6.4.3. A number of interviewees described measures to control expenditure on airtime.202 However, some older AbM members described not being able to use alternative options to control expenditure. For instance, older members rarely used SMS feature, which is cheaper than calling, because they did not know how.
An insight into the role of mobile phones can be gained by looking at the differences in mobile phone use and expenditure for AbM related activities among AbM members.
Interviewees can be divided into three groups, based on their expenditure with AbM related activities: of the 30 members interviewed, 20% (6 respondents) spent none or insignificant amount of their airtime with AbM related activities; 57% (17 respondents) spent a moderate to high percentage of their personal airtime with AbM related activities, and 23% (7 respondents) used their personal phones almost exclusively for AbM related activities. See below.
Six out of thirty interviewed members rarely used their mobile phones for AbM related issues. However, observation indicated that this was true for the majority of members of AbM. For these members, their engagement with AbM remained at the local level, and when they participated in other activities outside their communities,
202 Some members, for instance, expressed their concern regarding cost: “The cost of it it’s a big
problem for me, if it was cheaper I would use it more often” (AbM member 10, 2010). “Sometimes I buy 15 Rands, sometimes 30 Rands, and sometimes you don’t buy anything because you don’t have money, when you have got money you buy more airtime, when you have got less money, you buy less airtime.
Actually, airtime is always needed, so it just depend on how much you have in your pocket. When I have more airtime, I make more calls” (AbM member 20, 2010).
communication was mainly ‘mediated’ through local leadership.203 Some stated having helped AbM leadership by receiving calls and passing on the information, face-‐to-‐face, to other residents (AbM member 16, 2010); in some even rarer cases, these members have lent their mobiles to another member who was supporting the community, or made calls to the offices in times of crises (e.g. eviction, threats, shack fires).
The most interesting finding relates to the remaining 24 interviewees, and their use of mobile phones. These members have drastically raised the amount of airtime spent and changed the reasons for using it. These AbM members reported that they cut back on using their phones to call friends and family, and cut back on other household needs to buy airtime for AbM related activities.
Among these 24 interviewees, 17 reported spending between 50 and 80 % of their total monthly airtime on AbM. However, not all of these members have a constant high expenditure of airtime on AbM related issues and activities. For example, during times of crises, such as evictions, these members described spending more on airtime:
“during the eviction, I used a lot, maybe 30 to 45 Rands a day.204 We mostly called [AbM member 12] and his committee” (AbM member 10, 2010). However when there is not an on-‐going issue or event, mobile phone airtime expenditure tends to reduce.
One member explained that during the organisation of marches or other more intense mobilization events, she ends up spending much more of her personal airtime on AbM (AbM member 17).
The remaining 7 interviewees (out of the 24), all holding leadership positions within AbM, had by far the highest mobile phone expenditure on AbM related activities.
These members described spending between 70 to 100% of their total monthly airtime expenditure.
203 See further discussion on issues with funding and leadership dependency in this section.
204 30 to 45 Rands spent with airtime a day is extremely high for shack dwellers. At the time of data collection, many interviewees described spending between 50 to 150 ZAR a month.
All members interviewed struggled with funds to pay for airtime. Of the 24 members who used their mobile phones for AbM related activities the 14 who were either employed or self-‐employed described funds available to spend on airtime as being very limited, while the 10 unemployed interviewees were either dependent on other sources such as a family member’s income or government grant (e.g. child support).
For these unemployed members, the fact that they did not have a job often meant that they had more time to dedicate to AbM activities, and to assist other AbM members and community residents.
However, funds to spend on airtime represented a constant struggle. When these unemployed interviewees were asked about how they afforded mobile phone airtime, most described receiving small donations from family members and other community members; or a small stipend from AbM to help organise particular events (see
organisation of marches below). Most of them described difficulties to manage limited funds, and often being unable to communicate with other members by phone due to a lack of funds.205
For some particular activities, some members receive a small airtime stipend from the AbM budget, to be spent in organising events such as marches. In times of crises, there were cases in which AbM supporters bought airtime to aid members’ mobilization role.
Overall, for these members, concerns over the high cost of airtime – associated with their extensive need to use mobile phones – represented an operational problem to the development of and engagement with AbM.
Moreover, AbM members often complained of running out of airtime “too fast”. The overall preference for voice calls over SMS is an example of this problem. Calls were by far the most common feature used among AbM members. Even among members who
205 One unemployed member, for instance, explained that she worries that sometimes things are not moving or that she is not informed of things. And she is upset that she cannot call, because she has no money. She also feels responsible because she should be informed, for the benefit of the community, but she is dependent on other AbM members getting in contact with her (AbM member 11, 2010).
felt confident enough to use SMS tended to prefer to make calls, and only use SMS for particular tasks or events.
A common feature that emerged from interviews and observations is a feeling among AbM members that if there is an urgent matter, or something important to be
deliberated, it should be discussed face-‐to-‐face. If there were no immediate
possibilities to discuss an urgent matter face-‐to-‐face, some AbM members would then opt to make a call, but rarely – for instance – send an SMS.206
There are a few reasons identified for this behaviour. An obvious reason is the cost of airtime, which limits the use of mobile phones. However, there are other aspects such as language and culture. For instance, the first language of most AbM members is either isiZulu or isiXhosa, and the most common languages spoken within AbM. isiZulu and isiXhosa are languages, according to interviewees, which have “very long words”
and sentences, giving the impression that it takes longer for information to be conveyed. To convey a message by SMS, is perceived to be impractical or impossible, hence, the ‘need’ to communicate face-‐to-‐face or through voice calls.207
Finally, there were some cultural aspects identified through interviews that support the importance of face-‐to-‐face and voice call communication within AbM. For instance, when a group from a particular informal settlement, or a CDC, get in contact with AbM to find out more about the movement, AbM would always come to visit them and speak face-‐to-‐face, so a relationship of trust is established (AbM member 15, 2010).
After relationship of trust is established, they can move on to communicate, organise meetings and activities over the phone.
This establishment of trustworthy relationship face-‐to-‐face from the start is confirmed through narratives from interviews and meetings. For some interviewees, face-‐to-‐face interactions and the attention paid to their problems were inspirational, and
206 See discussion on SMS and call features in section 6.3.3.
207 See this Chapter, section 6.3.3.
motivated them to join. A couple of members mentioned that when they first contacted AbM, the leadership of the movement came to meet them.208 For these members, the physical presence of AbM members, made them feel important, that someone cared about them.209 A member, for instance, explained why face-‐to-‐face it so important:
“I think it is very important to recognize that traditional people, sitting down like this, has been the way of connecting. Part of it is a kind of respect, to whom you engage directly. But it is more about promoting the social cohesion; you want to be realistic” (AbM member 12, 2010).210