South Africa is a land of hardship and heartache, hope and opportunity.
There is a gulf between rich and poor. Government is hobbled by service delivery failures, and too many people get by on too little.
This is why some 250 000 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) exist across the country. Some do sterling work; others do not.
With so much goodwill and so many helping hands, why do our problems persist?
The answer lies in changing what we are doing in favour of a more strategic, coordinated approach that supports people to help themselves.
Love Cities is a network designed to do just that – a vehicle for collective action to transform communities across South Africa.
Born out of the Love Howick initiative nine years ago, the network has developed a strategic, collaborative platform to empower communities.
We have invested serious shoe leather, brain power and influence to establish an evidence-based framework that connects community builders and activates real change.
A brief story for context: childlike simplicity is often the first step in fixing seemingly intractable problems. I went from school principal to leading a small army of can-do people working together for transformation.
In 2016, I was driving through my hometown of Howick in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. It was litter-strewn, crime-ridden and riddled with potholes.
I launched into a bellyache about how things had gone to the dogs.
Then my daughter piped up from the back seat:
“So, what are you going to do about it, Dad?”
I had fallen prey to the disempowered thinking that has become the norm for many. Until I posted on Facebook asking people to join a clean-up. More than 50 people arrived to shovel garbage and tidy pavements.
Love Howick was born. It quickly garnered support from businesses, local government and neighbourhood associations.
A model
After a few years, people from across the country began contacting us. They wanted to do similar work, but there was no structured way to support them.
So our team began developing a scalable, replicable model to respond to these calls.
Love Howick’s success grew out of a range of self-help projects: place development, social development, skills development, economic development and narrative transformation.
One of our most successful initiatives has been training thousands of school leavers to become job-ready and securing employment for many of them.
Last year we launched Love Cities. In February this year, about 40 people representing 12 groups from seven provinces gathered to create a blueprint for something bigger.
Representatives from Notties, Mpophomeni, Bergville, Mkhondo, Paarl, Muldersdrift, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Potchefstroom, Amanzimtoti, Thornhill and Nelson Mandela Bay trekked to Howick to share the love.
Together, we developed a strategy that could be a gamechanger for nation-building in a country craving innovative leadership.
We are a collective of NGOs, community activists, businesspeople, churches, local councillors and social workers. We explored both the science and the art of community building.
Change makers
We are all change makers with valuable lessons about what works and what doesn’t. We have hitched our projects to a bigger goodwill wagon, but we are serious about credibility and sustainability.
The feel-good rush that comes from helping your neighbour is one thing. Making meaningful, lasting impact is another – and that is what we rigorously unpacked.
Our meeting was facilitated by Anniza de Wet, chief impact officer of Nation Builder, an NGO that manages social investments.
Anniza says there is no shortage of goodwill – the 250 000 NGOs prove that.
Yet problems persist because of maladministration, and because some NGOs become more focused on themselves than on the causes they claim to serve.
Mindful of this, we thrashed out a set of goals anchored in cooperation and coordination. What we do must be strategic, sustainable, measurable and accountable.
We have created a platform with clear metrics, resource sharing, training and support.
Pitfalls become possibilities
There are many potential pitfalls for a movement like this.
Short-term projects often emerge when communities become desperate to fix their neighbourhoods, but goodwill can run out of steam, funding dries up and volunteers burn out.
A successful project in one area does not automatically work in another. Partnerships can collapse under misunderstanding or divergent thinking.
We cannot solve every problem. Instead, we focus on what we do best: building a culture of excellence, attracting the right funders, connecting with credible partners, mobilising quickly and acting as catalysts for change.
Our February gathering produced this goal statement and call to action:
“Love Cities will connect, equip and activate community builders and active citizens to inspire a transformed South African society.”
The key lies in building on the good work that has carried existing initiatives this far.
The way forward
We need to build a national infrastructure that allows communities to dream again, learn from one another, track progress and access resources.
We have developed systems – including a community app and a leadership academy – to amplify impact, unite people and build capacity.
Social investors don’t just want to fund projects. They want scalable, replicable models that can transform communities with a shared vision for loving, inclusive and just cities.
We aim to support communities to innovate their own solutions while incorporating shared best practice.
Success hinges on financial sustainability, a well-resourced hub and tried-and-tested models that embed processes within government frameworks.
In Howick, we partnered to develop custom-built technology to gather evidence of impact, which we hope academics will study.
For example, in an informal settlement outside Howick, we went door to door, asking a set of questions and recording the answers on our app. The data produced a report based on multiple poverty indicators.
The same households have been tracked for three years, offering powerful insights.
Residents identified a “clean, healthy environment” as a major challenge. They elected an “enviro champ” per street, trained to manage waste properly and raise awareness about recycling at source.
A recycling centre was established at the local hall. Municipal waste collection followed. What was once a dump was transformed into a thriving agricultural project.
We leveraged a government initiative to train unemployed youth.
Literal clean-ups are fundamental in changing attitudes. Powerlessness is channelled into power.
Across the country, Love Cities has a growing list of proven projects – a “show, don’t tell” platform for easy adoption.
Monthly online collaboration sessions allow communities to share insights on clean-ups, recycling, skills training, education support and entrepreneurship development.
If you focus on all the reasons you could fail, you will.
But when we stop focusing on the rubbish, we can focus on transformation.
What we need now is a compelling vision – one that projects hope and puts the Mzansi spirit into action.
