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Accountability Lab South Africa launches ‘Voices of the Youth’ with The Daily Vox

Throughout 2021 South Africa experienced immense turbulence, with significant implications for all. From the Covid-19 pandemic, the contraction of the economy and steep rise in unemployment,  to the social unrest which erupted in July, the events of the past year brought into sharp relief just how much our society depends on a capable state with strong and accountable leadership. Among our society’s most vulnerable and marginalised segments are young people who are said to inherit this earth but are systematically excluded from shaping its future. From the political process to the frontline services they depend on to improve their socio-economic [...]

2022-02-04T14:57:22+00:0010th January 2022|

LGBTQI+ enforcing their existence

The LGBTQI+ community is doing it for themselves, enforcing their rights and celebrating their existence. Deekay Sibanda takes a closer look.   September is national Pride month in South Africa. LGBTQI+ people commemorate the month by  organising different activities and events to celebrate their identity and the diversity of their community. Activities also raise awareness around the wide spectrum of injustices committed against LGBTQI+ people and to reclaim their rights.  In the past few months we have seen weekly reports covering stories of discrimination and hate crimes  members of the LGBTQI+ community have had to endure,  in response to their sexual [...]

2021-09-23T15:01:44+00:0023rd September 2021|

More than corruption and poor governance – Integrity Icon in SA on municipal distress

By Dr Sarah Dlamini As a paediatric doctor in the public health system, I see the fault lines of segregation in our communities daily, and how the failure of municipal services is not experienced in the same ways by all South Africans. I live in Msunduzi, KwaZulu-Natal, where municipal services have been steadily collapsing. As a resident, I have watched the collapse with despair. For years the municipality has been hobbling along, struggling to deliver equitable services efficiently, but it has now crossed the tipping point on account of maladministration and corruption. A huge proportion of residents, mostly black and poor, routinely [...]

2021-09-01T06:28:37+00:001st September 2021|

Improving ethical leadership in our public institutions

The failure of the South African state at multiple levels to assure society of its commitment to building a social compact premised on compassion, integrity and accountability has not only eroded society's confidence in its ability to put people before profits and political elites. It has also shattered the very bedrock of what holds a society together - trust. Sekoetlane Phamodi, AL Country Director in South Africa, reflects on how to build this trust back up again.   Trust and the accompanying social compact are important from a multitude of perspectives. There’s the trust that citizens and residents should have [...]

2021-09-01T06:54:32+00:0027th August 2021|

Maverick Citizen: iKhaya eLitsha Hub — pathways to food security and dignity

In this article by the Daily Maverick Citizen, it's noted how community-led change and local action are too often stifled by the dominant accountability models. "New models of social accountability, built on trust, redistribution and horizontality rather than the usual bureaucratic checks and balances, are desperately needed," they say. In March 2020, when the president announced that South Africa would be going into a lockdown, a lot of uncertainty ensued. At the time I had just started working for a non-profit organisation that deals with sexual and reproductive health for adolescent girls and young women in the Klipfontein District. By [...]

2021-03-25T11:05:37+00:0025th March 2021|

Getting students debating solutions to gender-based violence

By Samina Anwary It’s not often we get to explore “out there” solutions to entrenched socio-cultural problems to the extent that it becomes a formal debate with well researched arguments and rebuttals. But this is exactly what happens when young people are given the platform to find creative solutions to seemingly intractable challenges. "The government is required to provide protection and safety under our constitutional framework. Therefore, they are complicit in perpetuating GBV. This is why a class action law-suit is needed." This was the strong statement made by Rhodes University debater Khanyisa Mqotyana during a debate on whether the [...]

2020-10-22T19:12:40+00:0022nd October 2020|

(Ad)venturing to New Places

Starting a new Accountability Lab - the example of South Africa Many have asked us how we started working in the countries in which we work. To begin with, there were strategic reasons, like knowledge of the context, good networks and trusted partners. But over the years we have become more organized in our approach to growth (see our country selection matrix). Now with almost weekly requests to start working in new and exciting places we have started to think about - and operationalise - a more structured approach to scale. When deciding to work in a new country we [...]

2019-10-07T00:00:00+00:007th October 2019|
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