South Africa

What we do in South Africa

South Africa has among the highest rates of inequality in the world. People living in ex-homeland and informal urban areas are most likely to be poor, and uneven distribution of land, public services and economic opportunity persists across the country.

South Africa’s Open Government Partnership action plan outlines the government’s intention to create partnerships with civil society organisations and to establish local Service Delivery Improvement Forums to ensure that national-level understanding and budget allocation reflects needs and voices of people at the community level.

Building on these commitments, Making All Voices Count projects in South Africa are focussed on supporting citizen engagement with the local Service Delivery Improvement Forums, and on investing in innovations that help citizens to call the national government to account.

“Despite the enormous effort and money put into new policies and institutions for improved service delivery, providing coverage and quality services for the rapidly growing, mostly black and poor population remains a colossal challenge.” — World Bank 2011