Governance Training
Many of the assets that communities of Bushbuckridge do have are communally owned, so one of our roles in assisting communities to unlock their potential is creating functional community structures and governance.
These structures include community trusts, property associations and existing tribal and village authorities. This helps to create a fair flow of benefits from initiatives that take place within communities. We believe that alongside education programmes for schools it is equally important to address leadership education and capacity building among the adults of the region.
One of the programmes supported by the Trust, in conjunction with the South African Wildlife College and Resource Africa, is the Community Governance Training Project.
In 2013, a number of community members elected by their communities, were taken on learning exchanges to other communities in Mozambique, Venda, Limpopo and other areas of Mpumalanga also involved in nature-based stewardship and income programmes. The aim was to introduce these community members to the ideas and concepts that are working for communities in other areas and creating an understanding about what is required in terms of their own organisational frameworks. These exchanges broadened the knowledge of participants and gave them new ideas of best practice and innovative solutions to the challenges they face.
The project promoted the concept of participatory governance where entire villages took part in decision-making processes, creating a shared vision for the community. Essentially a democratic approach, such frameworks allow communities to access groups in their population that are normally silent – in many cases the women within the community – but who have a lot of insight into the needs of making a community work or improving livelihoods. The result is a grassroots benefit flow, rather than wealth capture by a small segment of the population.