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Over the past few weeks you’ve probably seen hundreds of petitions, most of them to do with a vote of no confidence in a certain Jacob Zuma.

It becomes a little tiresome after a while, and although I’m sure it made you feel a sense of agency it’s really all for show.

How about spamming the hell out of a sitting minister, though? Say what you want about being thick-skinned, but when you’re inundated with SMS, WhatsApp and email messages it’s a little tougher to turn a blind eye to the will of the people.

A site called RSA Voices is making it really, really easy to put a little pressure on members of parliament. Here’s how they sum up what they’re about:

RSA Voices is a simple campaign. Imagine you are an MP and you arrive at your office to find a pile of physical letters, postcards and faxes on your desk. They are from people just like your friends, your family and your neighbours. The messages tell you persuasively and in no uncertain terms what they think you should do as a MP when you vote on the President Zuma no confidence vote.

You turn on your computer and receive 117, no (still loading) 159 more emails clearly stating what voters around the country expect you to do. Your secretary leans into your office and hands you 190 additional pieces of paper, each with a message about the vote and a number to call back.

You glance down at your phone and see two red dots. WhatsApp tells you there are 260 new messages and your SMS count is at 134.

How would you feel if you were a MP?

One message is interesting, 80 messages will grab attention, 128 messages will feel persuasive, 387 messages will be difficult to ignore, 658 messages make it difficult to disagree…

Help MP’s to get a sense of what you are feeling about issues in South Africa. If 1% of registered voters use this site to easily contact just one MP then each MP will receive 658 messages.

No one likes having to sift through 658 messages calling for JZ’s dismissal, and sending a message is pretty darn simple.

You can download a full list of each member of parliament’s contact details HERE, choosing your own screws to tighten.

Or, every time you open the site, they’ll even pick an MP for you. My last login:

Hello Lindiwe, nice to make your acquaintance. Perhaps I’ll use one of the sample messages (written in English, Xhosa and Zulu), or maybe I’ll fire off something that I conjure up myself.

Heck, they even break the messages down into email, postcard and WhatsApp for your convenience. The latter:

Dear Minister. This message is ahead of the vote of no confidence in President Zuma. Here is my reason why I believe you should vote in favour / against the motion.

<insert your reason here>

Please take this into account when you are voting.

Thanks very much.

<your name here>

Easy – fill in the blanks, be respectful when doing so, and fire off your message.

Then repeat. And repeat.

It’s not spam – you’re not offering penis elongation medicine, you’re doing your country a favour.

Perhaps it’s an exercise in futility, but imagine ConCourt approves the secret ballot for the Parliamentary vote of no confidence.

Maybe your message, and those of all the others, will sow the seeds of change.

Amandla.

Thanks, Ev

[source:rsavoices]