Is there an app for that?
The Learning Lunch podcast explores ideas, approaches and social innovations – creating opportunity for non-profit organisations’ teams to discover what others are learning and space to reflect on what these insights might mean for their own strategy and programme implementation. Download takeaway instructions Mobile apps are designed to simplify and digitise almost every aspect of […]
Hands-on Learning Issue 30
Through the Hands-on Learning publication, we hope to play a helpful role in synthesising information from innovators and implementers in civil society, supporting them to share what they have learnt so that others can draw from and build on their experiences. Catching up: Lessons in implementing accelerated learning programmes in South Africa In South Africa, […]
Learning Brief – Breakthrough thinking for early learning in South Africa: Government is starting to adopt the home-based learning model
The early years of a child’s life are the building blocks of their future success. Yet in South Africa, over 1.15 million children aged three to five are not in any early learning programme (ELP) and fewer than half of four-to five-year-olds attending an ELP are developmentally on track, meaning that they do not meet […]
SmileFM Interview: How service gaps are holding South Africa’s children back
South Africa’s child development crisis is more severe and widespread than previously understood. According to new research, no municipality in the country provides the full package of essential services that young children need to grow and thrive, from adequate nutrition and healthcare to safe water and quality early learning. These insights are explored in a […]
PowerFM Interview: Uncovering the gaps in services for South Africa’s young children
South Africa’s child development crisis is deeper and more widespread than we thought. New research shows that not a single municipality in the country delivers the full set of essential services young children need to thrive — including nutrition, healthcare, clean water and quality early learning. This is explained in more detail in a recently […]
Op-ed: Mapping service gaps – How SA’s children face barriers to essential developmental support
Nearly five million children under the age of six in South Africa live in poverty. These children face barriers to achieving their full potential, shaped by factors beyond their control — where they grow up and what services are accessible to their families. The odds are stacked against them, making it harder to fully participate in society […]
Article: Community trusts are greening the future
Community trusts linked to renewable energy projects are designed to ensure a portion of profits benefits the locals. Otsile Bokamoso is an after-school educational organisation whose name means “The future is bright”. Based in Dealesville, a small mixed-farming town in Free State province, it provides academic support to learners in the foundation phase (grades one […]
Learning Brief – Setting up public school partnerships in the Northern Cape
The Lesedi Solar Park Trust in the Northern Cape has a mandate to invest in communities within a 50-kilometre radius of the Lesedi Power Project over an extended period of time. DGMT’s place-based synergies (PBS) team is responsible for managing community development funds for the trust and facilitates supportive developmental pathways for people in the […]
People’s Post Article: NGOs urge South African government to approve maternal support grant to combat child poverty and malnutrition
A coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and researchers is calling on the South African government to approve a Maternal Support Grant (MSG) for poor pregnant women, warning that child poverty and malnutrition continue to rise at alarming rates. The call comes ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday 6 […]
NGOs say a Maternal Support Grant would cost the state about R2 billion annually, but the savings would be far greater
In 2025, poor pregnant women remain excluded from South Africa’s R267 billion per year social grant system, despite overwhelming evidence showing that state provision of income support during pregnancy delivers strong public health, economic and social returns for the country. The Department of Social Development’s proposed Maternal Support Grant (MSG), a monthly cash transfer to […]