Who We Are
Mission, Vision, Strategy and Values
National and International Events
The DDP is hosts annually a National Government Conference. The target audience of which includes senior public functionaries at the provincial sphere of government (nine provinces); senior municipal functionaries; academics; researchers and representatives of political parties, and civil society organizations. On the international front, the DDP has over the years been invited to actively participate in a number of international events and conferences in the field of democracy and governance. Some of these include the World Economic Forum, the Pan African Civic Educators Network, CIVICUS, LOGOLINK , the World Movement For Democracy and more recently the India-Brazil-South Africa local Governance Forum. The DDP has a number of ongoing engagements with several international partners both on the continent and in other parts of the world.
Conference “Do Europeans Care about the Rest of the World?” Measuring and Promoting Europeans’ support for Global Development
Brussels, December 7th, 2010 - Ambitious development policies are not enough to build a just and sustainable world, responsible and engaged Europeans are needed! However, while public surveys have repeatedly shown high support to development (89%), the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals is far off track, also due to failed commitments by the donor countries.
6th National Annual Government Conference-PROVINCIAL GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA POST 1994: QUO VADIS?
The DDP hosted a highly successful conference entitled, PROVINCIAL GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA POST 1994: QUO VADIS? on the 14 – 15 October 2010. Some of the dignitaries who addressed the Conference included inter alia, Mr Yunus Carrim (represented by B Malada), Deputy Minister of Co – operative Governance and Traditional Affairs; Mrs Helen Zille, Premier of the Western Cape; Ms Nomsa Zube, MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs in Kwazulu Natal; Mrs T C Memela, Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces and Prof Joseph Ayee, DVC: Humanities at UKZN. A session focusing on the African and South African Experience in Provincial Governance and Development addressed by Mrs Zille and Prof Ayee respectively generated a great deal of debate and discussion as it reflected on the experiences of Ghana and possible lessons for South Africa. The recent “Review of the Provinces and Local Government“ resulted in several options, options, namely retaining the status quo; retaining the nine provinces with substantially reduced powers and functions; reducing the number of provinces by merging some of them; retaining the provinces as administrative units or lastly phasing the provinces out altogether. The service delivery protests at the local level has to a certain extent also influenced government thinking in this regard. Alternatively, there are several strong arguments for retaining the provinces including inter alia, it was part of the historical constitutional settlement reached; it is a bulwark of democracy and they are key to effective services delivery. To date, there has been no public call for a change in boundaries or for a reduction in the number of provinces. Following the ANC General Council meeting in September, a local government summit has been proposed that would be held before the end of 2010 which will consider reducing the number of provinces. It has also been pointed out that the main reasons for service delivery problems are not constitutional or legal but can rather be attributed to shortages and lack of skills, training and human resources. Non-structural challenges like poor service delivery cannot be addressed by structural changes.
Citizens’ Education Training Workshop by Development Network of Indigenous Voluntary Associations, DENIVA
4-8 June 2009, Uganda - Nompumelelo Shezi on behalf of DDP attended a citizens’ education training workshop for civil society representatives and community trainers in Eastern and Southern Africa, held in Kampala, Uganda, from 4th – 8th June 2009. The training workshop was organised by the Development Network of Indigenous Voluntary Associations, DENIVA, based in Uganda, with support from the Commonwealth Foundation.
Training Workshop for Civil Society Organizations on Monitoring and Reporting Corruption
10-11 November 2008 (The Imperial Royale Hotel, Kampala, Uganda) - The workshop was organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York in collaboration with United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Ethiopia. It falls on the scope of Governance and Public Administration division of UNECA whose aims and objectives are in line with DDP’s core activities, particularly their work on Local Government, hence the acceptance of this invitation.
2008
Local Government Financing and Development in South Africa (11-12 August 2008, Southern Sun, Elangeni - Durban)
World Movement for Democracy - Fifth Assembly – Kiev, Ukraine
06 -09 April 2008 (Ukraine) - The World Assembly meets once every three years and brings together struggle activists, civil society institutions, researchers and grant makers to talk about the state of democracies in the world. The theme of this Assembly focused on MAKING DEMOCRACY WORK - FROM THEORY TO PERFORMANCE. The Assembly was held from 06 -09 April and was attended by 500 delegates from 110 countries.
Institute of Social Sciences
11-19 January 2008 (New Delhi) - Trip to India to visit local village councils and to gauge the extent of public participation at local government level. The visit coincided with the launch of the India-Brazil-South Africa Local Governance Forum (IBSALGF).
2007
4th National Annual Local Government Conference: Traditional Leadership and Local Governance in a Democratic South Africa: Quo Vadis? (30 - 31 July 2007, Elangeni Hotel - Durban).
Colloquium
22-23 October 2007 (South Africa) - DDP, in partnership with CORUS (a French research co-ordination body), hosted a three day international colloquium in October 2007 to discuss the issue of territorial and regional re-structuring. Twenty four delegates, including experts from France, Morocco, Germany and South Africa - were present. Research papers presented various aspects of regional restructuring. The colloquium elicited a lot of questions around the demarcation process in South Africa as well as the issues of the regional autonomy and the role of provinces in this matter.
2006
3rd National Annual Local Government Conference: Towards Good Governance, Ethical Conduct and Integrity in the Second Decade of Democracy in South Africa (16 - 17 OCtober 2006, Elangeni Hotel - Durban).
2005
2nd National Local Government Conference: Towards Accelerated Service Delivery (5-7 October 2005, Elangeni Hotel - Durban).
Strengthening Local Economic Development in the Second Decade of Democracy in South Africa
