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About Hlanganisa

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Hlanganisa Community Fund for Social and Gender Justice is an intermediary grant maker that channels funding to the grassroots level. Hlanganisa’s work is aimed at contributing towards achieving social justice through enhancing the capacity of community-based organisations, promoting human rights and equity, and fostering agency and cohesion in communities. Hlanganisa’s thematic focal areas include access to justice, gender justice and women’s leadership development and climate change and energy justice.

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Hlanganisa works in partnership with community-based organisations, grassroots activists and social justice movements in underserved communities. Grassroots formations are strategic allies in enabling social change in their communities because of the proximity to the problems we seek to address, but also because of the level of local knowledge and their understanding of the context.

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These partnerships are facilitated through:

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Catalytic grant-making

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Institutional capacity enhancement 

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Strategic sector convening.

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Vision

A just, equitable world, that values community-led solutions and is free of violence and discrimination.

Mission

Through intermediary grant making, capacity strengthening and convening, Hlanganisa supports women’s rights-centred, impactful, community-led programmes to build resilient and sustainable communities who use their voice and agency to advance good governance and social justice.

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Hlanganisa subscribes to and upholds the following values and principles:
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Transparency and Accountability

We make decisions through transparent processes; and stand by the actions and decisions that we make.

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Solidarity

We respect the choices and journeys of our community partners; and recognise that ‘us versus them’ impedes our work and negatively affects the impact of community structures.

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Participative Leadership

We acknowledge power and will work to overcome power differences by creating a culture of participative decision-making, that is transparent and accountable to our stakeholders.

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Mutual Respect

We commit to letting Hlanganisa staff and grantee partners know that they are valued for their achievements, abilities, and qualities. We believe that being valued and treated respectfully helps to promote a positive culture in which all are fulfilled, loyal, engaged, and motivated to perform at their very best.

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Adaptive and Nimble

As an organisation, we are open to new ideas that require us to adjust in a fast-changing world and will create the systems and processes to create a culture that values new ways of doing better. We will focus on continuous learning to help us foster rapid adaptation, learning how to do new things, and to be quick to read and act on signals of change so that we can unlock our greatest resources.

  • Access to Justice
    The full realisation of citizens’ rights as outlined in the constitution is only possible through an equitable justice system. Research points to limited access to justice for the majority of South Africans who live on the margins. There are several barriers cited, including low rights literacy, the prohibitive cost of legal representation, the cumbersomeness of the criminal justice system and the preference to seek alternative forms of justice including mediation and reparative justice in the traditional courts system. Community advice offices are a critical entry point to the formal justice system. Their proximity to communities, free services and ability to simplify complex processes makes them a critical means to accessing justice. Over the years, Hlanganisa has partnered community advice offices across South Africa, providing small grants and institutional capacity development support that enables their continued existence. These community advice offices provide paralegal services, human rights information and dispute resolution services to the communities that they serve. Because they operate within these communities, understanding the sociocultural values, they enjoy the trust and confidence of their communities. The sustainability of these offices is crucial to the attainment of rights and freedoms of ordinary South Africans. Current/ongoing projects Strengthening community advice offices in the Free State, Limpopo and KwaZulu Natal 2006 – current The Sisterhood Advocates Project Hlanganisa supports community advice offices to scale their impact by capacitating senior paralegals as master trainers in GBV paralegalism and in turn train ordinary women in the community peer mentors. These paralegals are known as sisterhood advocates supporting GBV survivors. Sisterhood advocates have increased the footprint of community paralegalism in rural communities that are often far from the formal justice system. Previous projects Know Your NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) 2020 – 2022
  • Climate and Energy Justice
    Climate change related disasters such as droughts, floods and tropical cyclones have increased in frequency and intensity in the Southern Africa region leaving behind a trail of destruction. The most affected population have been women in rural communities because of their dependence on natural resources. In spite of this, they are the least consulted in the climate change and energy transition discourse. Hlanganisa supports community-led initiatives contributing to equitable and just access to natural resources leveraging on indigenous knowledge systems. To this end, Hlanganisa funds grassroots organisations working to understand and mitigate the impact of climate change in their communities. This work includes supporting community level efforts that harness indigenous knowledge to address disaster-risk advocating for access to land for women, ensuring food security and sustainable resource governance and clean energy. Recent projects Climate and energy justice Women’s access to land rights project (2019 – 2022) Dialogue on intersections between GBV and the extractives industry
  • Democracy and Social Accountability
    Active citizenry is a key component of any functional democracy. It is therefore important for citizens to understand the provisions in the national constitution for holding public officials to account for delivery of services and expenditure of resources. Hlanganisa works with community-based organisations, structures and activists to enhance their capacity and provide them the necessary tools to hold public officials to account. This work includes building capacity in social accountability mechanisms such as budget tracking, participating in integrated development plans (IDP) and community-based monitoring of services through social audits and other democratic processes. At a community level, Hlanganisa has enabled community-based organisations to equip members of their communities to be actively involved in processes such as monitoring of drug stockouts, advocating for increased participation of women in IDP processes and other decision-making structures, advocating for gender responsive budgets and access to more efficient services. Recent projects Social accountability and promoting good governance project Strengthening democracy and social accountability
  • Gender Justice
    Almost 30 years have passed the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted by the United Nations in recognition of how disenfranchised womxn were. Although there have been strides made in the opportunities available to womxn, discrimination from social, economic and political spheres of life are still a reality. This is especially true for womxn already on the margins of society and whose experiences are disregarded when shaping law and policy. Hlanganisa’s gender justice work foregrounds women leadership at grassroots level, ensuring that they participate in decision making at all levels. Our intersectional approach seeks to mitigate systemic barriers impacting womxn. Hlanganisa also has an impressive footprint in supporting creative methodologies that respond to GBV through research and advocacy. Recent projects Sisterhood Advocates Project Mhare - Mainstreaming disability into GBV programming Women’s Leadership Development ZA Feminist School Documentation of Best Practices for Community Level Responses to Gender-Based Violence

Meet the Team

Meet the Hlanganisa team that puts in the effort to bring social justice to the community.

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The Board of Directors of the Hlanganisa Community Fund plays a crucial role in guiding the organisation’s mission to empower communities and foster sustainable development. Comprised of a group of passionate and experienced individuals, the board is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction, ensuring financial stability, and upholding the organisation’s values of transparency, inclusivity, and accountability.

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With a shared commitment to social change, the Board of Directors is integral in steering the Hlanganisa Community Fund towards its goal of creating positive, long-lasting impact in communities across the region.

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Ms. Lebogang Ramafoko

Chairperson

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Ms Bongiwe Ndondo

Executive Director

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Advocate
Jeff Mongwe

Non-Executive Director

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Mr. Edmond Shoko

Non-Executive Director

Board of Directors

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