Becky Himlin, Executive Director, Planact

At its August 2006 “NGOs as Innovators and Agents of Change” conference, Planact reviewed its history and past practice in order to better understand its current identity and its strategy for going into the future. By so doing, it was also able to offer some general reflections on the role of NGOs in urban development in South Africa. Planact continues to demonstrate the value of synthesizing local community experiences of democracy and development into policy positions. While these efforts have not always succeeded, they have invariably demonstrated the value of learning by doing and using the successes and failures from grassroots initiatives to shape policy shifts that are important to poor communities.

Founded in 1985, Planact has operated throughout a period of profound change in South Africa. In the period of resistance to apartheid, Planact supported civic and trade union movements in their struggles around housing, urban development and governance. As a result, Planact was drawn into several negotiating forums in the transition to democracy. The National Housing Forum, for instance, set principles for a new, post-apartheid housing subsidy programme and Planact and SANCO vigorously lobbied for a stronger emphasis on “people-driven” development in the RDP document. The advent of the Johannesburg Metro Chamber which re-structured local government in the city, saw Planact and its civic partners lobbying for the principle of “One-City, One Tax Base”. A Planact policy paper drew together the democratic movement’s demands and became the focus of Planact and its civic partners negotiating position in the Metro Chamber.

In the post-apartheid period, Planact was intensely involved in policy development for the White Paper on Local Government, which laid the foundation for South Africa’s current system. Planact’s involvement helped to ensure that principles of developmental local government, integrated development planning and participatory approaches to planning became key principles in the White Paper. These principles also guided Planact’s interventions in communities and its capacity-building work with the newly elected local government structures. Planact was instrumental in developing training material and delivering training programmes for the new councillors who were confronted by the legacy of apartheid under-development.  Planact balanced these programmes with training at community level, and direct support to organisations in poor communities so they could engage the new municipalities effectively. When ward committees began to take up their mandate to link communities and government, Planact included these structures in its training and capacity-building efforts.

One of Planact’s more recent interventions, a People’s Housing Process (PHP) in Vosloorus, is a good example of how the principles that have guided Planact and how the organisation has again worked to extend its practical, on-the-ground experience to the level of policy advocacy. A local government-monitoring project involving the Vosloorus ward committees has also been started to promote accountability to the community. Planact has not only demonstrated a holistic, integrated approach to local development but also ensured that these lessons were documented and contributed to a position paper on the People’s Housing Process.

Many NGOs face an uncertain future in post-apartheid South Africa with its shifting donor environment. We also encounter certain government institutions that are comfortable with NGOs only in a service-provider role. Then there are the conflicts that plague local communities trying to accommodate divergent interests. In Planact’s case the lessons offered through examining our history have renewed our faith in direct engagement with communities and government. Our faith in the principles of self-determination, integration, inclusion and transparency have been reinforced and we are convinced that NGOs have an ongoing role in assessing and sharing these experiences, and motivating for progressive policy change.

The Local Government Transformer Vol. 12 No. 5 Oct/Nov 2006