Introduction

South Africa’s most marginalised communities face major obstacles in accessing elected representatives to engage about their challenges. Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) play a vital role in supporting communities to attain this democratic right.

In areas of public health and public safety, CSOs often can be a way to connect communities and provincial departments. This does not always bring the results that communities demand. Working more closely with legislatures, enabling ordinary people to explain the issues they face, and raising public awareness of the problems they are confronting strengthens democracy.

For CSOs, this role had not been explored much. Not only were the issues faced by communities varied and complex, but organisations also faced limitations in capacity and knowledge about engaging with provincial representatives.

From 2018-2020, Democracy Works Foundation, in partnership with Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and with co-funding from the European Union, supported improved engagement between provincial legislatures and communities in the public health and public safety sectors.