Groundswell is a non-profit educational organisation. It was founded to bring about constitutional change based on the ideas in the books by Leon Louw and Frances Kendall. It has accomplished an extraordinary amount with limited funds. 'South Africa - The Solution' (which has sold in excess of 80,000 copies) has been translated into Afrikaans. We have produced a video based on the book, and summaries of the book have been translated into Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana and Sotho.
Frances Kendall and Leon Louw have now twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and are sought after as speakers by groups ranging from the President's Council to the KwaZulu executive. Through Louw and Kendall, we have presented evidence to the South African Law Commission on their Bill of Rights and on a democratic constitution, and we have networked successfully with key people in the forefront of the political debate. Diverse leaders are publicly proclaiming their support for some or all of our ideas. Moreover, government is being limited through privatisation and deregulation, and South Africans across the political spectrum are beginning to appreciate the importance of local decision-making and the referendum.
We organise 'Solution Parties'. These are small informal gatherings at which Groundswell's proposals are presented and debated. They are hosted by members of the public in their homes, offices and clubs (over 500 have been held to date). They are free of charge. A survey has shown that 60% of people once they have attended such a house party would opt for a devolved federation for South Africa - as opposed to 14% of non-attenders. We run regular Speakers' Forum workshops to train members to do presentations at house parties.
Groundswell's 'Project Stand Tall' is a series of seminars, two per month, subsidised by the business community and aimed at the man in the street. At these full-day seminars we deal with issues such as redistribution, affirmative action, privatisation, direct democracy, proportional representation, devolution and other issues vital for South Africa's future.
- The book 'South Africa - The Solution' is available from the Institute for Social Inventions, 20 Heber Road, London NW2 6AA (tel 081 208 2853; fax 081 452 6434) for L7 incl. p&p. The Groundswell movement received a main Social Inventions Award from the Institute.
- Groundswell's address is PO Box 92385, Norwood 2117, Johannesburg, South Africa (tel 27 11 442 7247; fax 27 11 442 7247).
- Frances Kendall's address is 57 Glenrose Road, Melrose 2196, Johannesburg (tel 27 11 442 8898).
- The video mentioned is available on VHS for 84 rands from Teevision, P.O. Box 7473, Johannesburg 2000 (tel 011 402 1400 ext. 23).