The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) recently launched a scathing attack on civil society organisations working in education, going as far as describing them as “imperialist neoliberal forces”.
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) recently launched a scathing attack on civil society organisations working in education, going as far as describing them as “imperialist neoliberal forces”.
Mugwene Malulele, Sadtu general secretary, told the italMail Guardian/ital that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had a broader agenda – to undermine government. Although not mentioning organisations by name, he did refer to one, Section 27, an NGO that took the basic education department to court twice this year over the non-delivery of textbooks in Limpopo.
Civil society in South Africa was borne out of a fight for justice and equality, eradicating poverty and inequality and became a voice to speak on behalf of the voiceless. When South Africa adopted our post-apartheid constitution in 1996 it involved a massive public participation campaign in which the role of civil society was paramount.
Today, civil society still meaningfully participates and contributes in structures of governance. However, they are facing major challenges including inadequate funding, changes in the political environment and loss of institutional knowledge. These are not new challenges but seem more prominent now after the financial crisis of recent years.
On 30 October the Centre for Social Development (CSD) at Rhodes University launched the Civil Society Leadership Forum aimed at establishing a support structure for emerged and emerging NGO leaders in the Makana region. Forum coordinator Vera Adams hopes that it will become a support and networking platform with a commitment to growing, developing and supporting emerging leaders in the region.
At the forum launch, Margie Keeton, who has many years’ experience working with private resources and business approaches to strengthen practical education initiatives, gave some advice. In her presentation entitled “Creating sustainable NGOs in the current climate” she mentioned that many organisations make the mistake of taking on too many things in an effort to generate income to cover operational costs. It then becomes a battle between quality delivery and development.
According to Keeton, the path to success all goes back to a clear vision for the organisation, having self-belief and effective leadership and courage. Alliances with other NGOs are also very important, she said.
Carol-Anne Foullies, the early childhood development portfolio manager of the DG Murray Trust, one of the biggest local grant-making trusts in South Africa, also shared some wisdom. She said the biggest mistake many NGOs make is that they don’t report on the learning and implementation of their projects.
The final presenter was Pam Picken, an associate of Cape Town based NGO Leadership in Development, which focuses on developing leadership in the NGO sector. Being a past NGO director for more than 30 years, she shed light on the many challenges that leaders face.
We live in uncertain times, Picken said, and leaders need to be willing to confront the unknown. She also said that old thinking, old ideas and old ways are no longer effective. NGOs that don't start to think more strategically will effectively run the risk of losing their way and not be able to face daily challenges. Leadership in Development has a 'brain based' approach to leadership development and believes that leadership is based on a set of skills that must be learned and improved through practice.
According to Adams, many NGOs have never had a political agenda other than advocacy for their cause. Daily uncertainties like finding funding and driving staff by passion rather than remuneration and recognition isn’t easy.
In the case of the CSD in Grahamstown and all other early childhood development NGOs their work is dedicated to young children, the future leaders of South Africa. The fact that we all have to raise our own funds to survive should point to the fact that we have no political affiliation and that organisations like Sadtu should actually be recognising the work of educational NGOs who have years of experience, against many odds, to improve the country’s education, Adams said.
