Work together for change

CIRCLE OF UNITY: INCLUSIVE MODEL FOR SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

- PAUL SMITH

Five years ago, the high court ordered Makana municipality in the Eastern Cape to be placed under administration for violating its constitutional mandate by failing to provide basic services to the community. Civil society organisations had accused the municipality of corruption, failure to provide water and sewerage services, and serious neglect of municipal infrastructure.

At the time, the municipality and the communities it served were so highly polarised that they resembled a circular firing squad: everyone wanted change but there was no agreement on what to change, or how.

The absence of stakeholder unity and a shared purpose created a disabling environment, hindering progress and local development.

This was the situation that confronted Kagiso Trust, one of South Africa's leading development agencies, when it set out to heal divisions in Makana and inspire what it now calls "radical collaboration", as an alternative to dysfunction and division.

The trust had worked in local government for many years, but its focus was solely on building capacity within municipalities. The challenges in Makana needed a different approach, so it supported the formation of a different type of ring-shaped formation: the Makhanda Circle of Unity.

The idea was to create a more enabling environment by giving citizens the opportunity to co-design the future they desired while encouraging the municipality to adopt a more transparent stance. The Circle of Unity advocates an inclusive and purposeful approach to the socioeconomic development of Makhanda and surrounds.