The Eastern Cape NGO Coalition welcomes the strong focus in this year’s budget on building the economy through investing in young people. Focusing on youth is a forward-looking approach to developing this country’s future for all its people. Young people are the cornerstone of building a sustainable country as we continue to grow our democracy. The focus on fast tracking the employment and employability of young people by enabling access to quality education and skills building whilst ensuring that businesses bring on board young talent are important pillars for supporting the participation of young people in building the economy.

However, there are gaps and areas of concern in the budget that need serious consideration, such as:

Budget allocations to organisations such as NYDA, meant to promote the objectives of supporting youth employment and skilling, need to be carefully monitored to ensure that the funds allocated are used effectively. 

The budget prioritises the growing and sustaining of the formal economy through employment, by the business sector. Whilst this is important, studies have shown that the Civil Society sector, particularly NGOs and CBOs tend to absorb a lot of the unemployed people

Read more: ECNGOC Budget 2011/2012 Response

Masikhule Community Development Organisation, is a community based organisation (CBO) based in Sterkspruit, in the Eastern Cape Province. It   played a crucial role of saving lives of the patients at Empilisweni District hospital. The organization committed voluntary services during the time of Government employees strike from 23rd of August to 6th of September 2010.

The volunteers under Masikhule divided themselves such that some of them did the laundry using the washing machines, operating them well as if they were trained on how to operate them. No shortage of linen was experienced by the hospital. Some were in the kitchen where they cleaned the area and cooked very well for patients. They delivered food to the wards, dished out and helped to feed helpless patients.

Read more: The Impact of Community Based Organisations

URGENT NOTICE TO ECNGOC MEMBERS, PARTNERS AND THE PUBLIC
Re: SANGOCO Eastern Cape

Read more: Memo to ECNGOC Stakeholders

THE SOUND OF SILENCE
Imagine not knowing what the sound of music is like. Imagine having never heard your child’s voice or the rev your favourite car makes. Picture yourself in a stadium surrounded by sixty-thousand spectators and not being able to hear the roar of the crowd when your team scores. This is a privilege a number of South Africans do not have.
By Shamin Chibba

Deaf communities around the world will unite in celebrating Deaf Awareness Week between August 30 and September 4. According to Xomba.com, the commemorative week began 69 years ago and was meant to “educate communities about the many issues the deaf population face during everyday life, as well as to honor the history and culture of people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing”. According to Nomfundo Sikondo of the Deaf Federation of South Africa (DEAFSA), the deaf community has a unique culture that they wish able-hearing people can understand.

Read more: Deaf Awareness

August 9 was more than an historical day for women in South Africa. It revolutionised the way society views women in general. It was the day the country realised that women were more powerful than what society thought, and that the stand those women made at the Union Buildings 54 years ago continues to resonate till today. It has inspired millions
of women to take the mantle in deciding the destiny of their own lives. The ECNGOC spoke to three women who have worked in women’s organisations and they discuss with us the significance of women’s month and what this means for the struggle for the gender equality in South Africa.

Read more: Reflections on Women's Advancement

By Mandisi Brukwe

The former apartheid regime manipulated press freedom through pieces of legislation to ensure that it manages to perpetuate National Party rule at the expense of majority of South Africans, who became second-class citizens and outcasts in the land of their birth. Journalists were thrown in and out of jail, sometimes spending up to six months in detention without trial. An unfortunate few vanished from earth without a trace. Those who were lucky were found dead in prison cells and the only explanation given by the authorities was that they had committed suicide. South Africans have vowed never to experience that part of their history again by voting out the now defunct National Party and opted for a new order under the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC).

Read more: Thoughts on the Media Tribunal