Lwati July 2005, Number 13

*LWATI *

The monthly e-newsletter of the Southern African
Non-Governmental Organisation Network (SANGONeT)

July 2005, Number 13

www.sangonet.org.za

"Lwati" is an isiSwati word meaning information.

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<> EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S COMMENTS
<> STAFF NEWS
<> EVENTS
<> TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
<> CIVIL SOCIETY INFORMATION SERVICES
<> NETWORKING AND OUTREACH
<> CONTACT DETAILS

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<> EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S COMMENTS

Dear reader

Welcome to the thirteenth edition of SANGONeT's monthly e-newsletter!

It is exactly one year since the launch of the Lwati newsletter. During this period it has served as an important tool in communicating with our target audience and stakeholders about developments at SANGONeT.

The ability to communicate effectively and pro-actively with one's constituency is a critical challenge facing all non-profit organisations (NPOs). In an environment increasingly characterised by competition for funding and the need for greater transparency, accountability, service delivery and impact, communication has become a strategic aspect of organisations' success and sustainability.

The Internet and other information communication technologies (ICTs) present NPOs with many new opportunities to enhance their communication, and reach a much wider audience than in the past. Unfortunately, although an increasing number of mainly urban-based NPOs are starting to use and integrate ICTs into their work, the impact of ICTs on the sector continues to be limited.

NPOs that do have connectivity primarily use it for basic e-mail correspondence, with very little integration into broader organisational practices. Few NPOs have websites and where they exist, they are nothing more than an electronic version of paper-based brochures. Very little effort is made to use websites as a platform to engage with stakeholders and constituencies, whilst most NPOs still lack a basic understanding of how the Internet can be usedas a tool toreach out to a
local and international audience which far exceeds the 3.7 million South African web users.

The ICT awareness that many NPOs in other parts of the world have mastered has yet to be fully comprehended locally. Online fundraising, marketing and advocacy are largely foreign concepts to the South African NPO sector.

In response to this situation, SANGONeT aims to intensify its efforts in the next few months to expose a large percentage of local NPOs to the Internet and other ICTs via new online applications and face-to-face interactions.

A major new SANGONeT initiative is the transformation of the SANGONeT website into a comprehensive development information
portal for and about the South African NPO sector. It will integrate the activities of the Thusanang and PRODDER projects, and become a major vehicle for profiling the work of local NPOs. The portal will also provide organisations without websites or access to ICTs with a channel to electronically disseminate information to a wide local and international audience.

In addition, to enhance the ICT capacity and infrastructure levels of the NPO sector, SANGONeT is currently finalising an expandedrange of affordable ICT services and products which will be offered through NGO.ZA. A specific announcement in this regard will be made shortly.

Furthermore, future Thetha forums will increasingly be used to raise awareness about specific ICT applications that could enhance the communication and service delivery capacity of the NPO sector.

SANGONeT will once again host a special one-day event to celebrate World Development Information Day on 24 October 2005, and many of its new services and other exciting initiatives will be profiled during the event.

SANGONeT is currently also coordinating the South African version of the World Summit Award (WSA) which aims to recognise the best e-content initiatives in the country. More information on this competition is available on the SANGONeT website and we encourage local NPOs to participate.

I would also like to encourage all NPOs concerned about the future of our sector to read Fazila Farouk's July 2005 Thusanang editorial which is available on the SANGONeT and Thusanang websites.

As always, we are very interested in how you think we could best serve the NPO sector with relevant ICT products and services. Please send us your views, comments and suggestions.

Best wishes

David Barnard (dbarnard@sangonet.org.za)

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<> STAFF NEWS

Kgeledi Botswang joined SANGONeT on 4 July 2005 on a six-month learnership programme. He has done his A+ at Boston City Campus and is currently completing his Technical Support NQF Level 4 qualification.

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<> EVENTS

# Thetha - World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

The second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) will take place in Tunis, Tunisia, from 16-18 November 2005.

SANGONeT hosted a Thetha forum on 29 June 2005 in Braamfontein which provided local civil society organisations (CSOs) with an
opportunity to reflect on the focus and objectives of WSIS, as well as to discuss the first draft of a South African WSIS Civil Society document. More than 40 people attended the event.

Specific issues that received attention include international civil society processes related to WSIS, Internet governance, community broadcasting, freedom of expression and the need for a new evaluation paradigm.

Speakers included David Barnard, SANGONeT; Anriette Esterhuysen, APC; Calvin Browne, Uniforum; Rene Smith, MISA SA; Raymond Louw,Southern Africa Report; Danny Moalosi, National Community Radio Forum and Prof Wal Taylor, Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

A similar meeting will be held in Cape Town on Monday, 22 August 2005.

If you are interested in participating in this Thetha, please contact Refilwe Rakhibane at SANGONeT before 15 August 2005 on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or  thetha@sangonet.org.za

# World Summit Award (WSA) - South African Competition

The World Summit Award (WSA) is a global initiative to select and promote the world's best e-Content and Creativity. It is held within the framework of and in cooperation with the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

SANGONeT is coordinating the South African WSA process.

The WSA in South Africa is the first competition of its kind in the country emphasising the importance of content in bridging the digital divide. The South African winners in each category will be entered in the international competition. The international winners will be announced at the WSA Gala, taking place in Tunis, Tunisia, on 16 November 2005, during the Second Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

To participate, please complete and submit the Entry Form which is available on the SANGONeT website - www.sangonet.org.za.

The closing date for South African nominations is Tuesday, 26 July 2005.

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<> TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

# Linux Training Manual

SANGONeT participated in developing a Linux training manual during a five-day training course hosted by ImpiLinux. The training started with an introduction to GPL/GNU, followed by details on the installation and configuration of Linux, using the terminal interface and configuring Network, Internet and connectivity solutions.

# Launch of South African Communist Party (SACP) Web Portal

The SACP web portal was launched on 30 June 2005. The portal incorporates Umsebenzi Online, a free online publication published on the first and third Wednesday of every month. Users also have the option of receiving Umsebenzi by e-mail. The portal features a unified search interface as well as an archive of speeches, press releases and articles relating to the SACP.

For more information on the SACP, please visit http://www.sacp.org.za

# Youth Communist League Website

The website of the Youth Communist League (YCL) was launched simultaneously with the SACP portal. The YCL site features a unique split interface with four components displayed on the home page. Available on the site is the latest issues of 'Bottomline', the YCL's online publication, as well as the electronic version of 'Y-Reds' magazine. The site also covers policy documents and  information about current campaigns.

For more information on the YCL, please visit http://www.ycl.org.za

# Non Profit Consortium (NPC) Website

SANGONeT assisted the Non Profit Consortium (NPC) in revamping its website with a new logo. The website was also updated with
additional content. Previously known as the Non-Profit Partnership, the Non Profit Consortium (NPC) focuses on non-profit law issues and is working towards an enabling legal and regulatory environment to strengthen the capacity of non-profit organisations to deliver vital social services and products.

For more information on the NPC, please visit http://www.npc.org.za

# NGO.ZA

The NGO.ZA initiative has proved to be very popular and SANGONeT continues to receive various enquiries about additional
services. Accordingly, the NGO.ZA initiative is being expanded to accommodate a multi-stakeholder structure, including a wider range of ICT service providers. This will allow for a number of additional ICT services and products to be offered to NGOs at competitive rates.

For more information on NGO.ZA, please visit http://www.ngo.za

# Technology Consulting

SANGONeT offers a wide range of customised technology solutions, including open source software consulting, facilitation of website workshops and developing a technology plan for your organisation. For more information on how we can assist you, please contact Joseph George on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or joseph@sangonet.org.za

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<> CIVIL SOCIETY INFORMATION SERVICES

# NGO Portal

The Civil Society Information Services programme held a two-day workshop from 22-23 June 2005 to discuss the possibility of integrating Thusanang and PRODDER into the SANGONeT website in an effort to transform the website into a comprehensive development information portal, for and about the South African NGO sector.

As a result of the workshop, which was facilitated by Frank Meintjies of New Nation  Consulting, the new portal will be developed during the next four months and will map the local NGO sector, develop the funding and other strategic capacity issues of the sector and cover news about opportunities and other events in the non-profit  development arena. It will be launched on 24 October 2005 as part of SANGONeT's World Development Information Day event.

# Thusanang: The Southern African Funding Information Facility

Thusanang is an Internet portal (http://www.thusanang.org.za) that aims to disseminate information on funding and fundraising issues, promoting good grantmaking and grantseeking practices.

The Thusanang team hosted a focus group discussion (FGD) in Durban on 29 June  2005. The meeting was well attended and participants made valuable contributions about the development of content on the website. In general, the FGDs haveprovided participants with a wonderful opportunity for peer exchange, including networking and learning. They welcomed the opportunity to talk about strategic sustainability issues at a senior level. Given the success of the Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban FGDs, a decision has been taken to host a similar meeting in the Eastern Cape in August 2005. Development NGOs from the Eastern Cape wishing to participate in the event should send a query to thusanang@sangonet.org.za.

Readers interested in subscribing to Thusanang's weekly e-newsletter, "Thusanang Alert", should send an e-mail to thusanang@sangonet.org.za, with the words "Subscribe me to Thusanang Alert"in the subject line.

For more information about Thusanang, please visit http://www.thusanang.org.za

# PRODDER: The South African NGO and Development Database

The PRODDER pilot phase will be launched during July 2005. During this pilot phase, organisations listed on the database (largely comprising those from the last print version) will get the opportunity to test the functionality of the online database as well as validate their details. During the pilot phase organisations that have never been listed on PRODDER before will also get the chance to submit their details online.

For more information about PRODDER, please contact Julie Machin on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or julie@sangonet.org.za

# SANGONeT Conference Calendar

A new feature on the SANGONeT website is a comprehensive listing of forthcoming Southern African and international development conferences.

To have your event included in this facility, please forward details to info@sangonet.org.za

For more information about forthcoming conferences, please visit the "Conference Calendar" section on the SANGONeT website at
http://www.sangonet.org.za

# SN-Announce

SN-Announce is an electronic mailing list that has provided an invaluable service to the CSO sector in Southern Africa for the past six years. With a potential readership of more than 10 000 people, it remains one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to reach non-profit organizations and the development community in general.

All members of the development sector, including government departments and commercial organisations with a development focus, can advertise on SN-Announce. The type of information distributed on SN-Announce includes alerts for vacancies, events, campaign launches, conferences, meetings, lobbies, petitions and services in the development sector.

For more information about how to subscribe to SN-Announce or post an announcement, please contact Refilwe Rakhibane at SANGONeT on (011) 403-4935 or refilwe@sangonet.org.za

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<> NETWORKING AND OUTREACH

# SANGONeT's Deputy Director and Civil Society Information Services Manager, Fazila Farouk, attended a meeting about "Setting a National Poverty Line" hosted by Naledi on 20 June 2005 at the Parktonian Hotel in Braamfontein.

# Fazila Farouk also attended a meeting hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) and the Charities Aid Foundation - Southern Africa on 21 June 2005 aimed at exploring the possibility of establishing an independent regulatory authority for the non-profit sector in South Africa. Refer to Fazila's current editorial on the Thusanang website about this initiative.

# SANGONeT's Executive Director, David Barnard, attended the Dimitra (FAO) and CTA workshop on "Reflecting and acting together to strengthen rural women's networks and to fight HIV/AIDS in rural areas" from 13-17 June 2005 in Brussels, Belgium.

# David Barnard and Fazila Farouk held meetings with strategic Durban-based development organisations as part of SANGONeT's
constituent consultation drive. Meetings were held with Agenda, ACCORD and the Centre for Civil Society in Durban on 30 June 2005.

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<> CONTACT DETAILS

SANGONeT
P O Box 31392
2017 Braamfontein
SOUTH AFRICA

10th Floor
76 Juta Street
Braamfontein

Tel: (+27) (11) 403-4935
Fax: (+27) (11) 403-0130
E-mail: newsletter@sangonet.org.za
WWW: http://www.sangonet.org.za

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CopyLeft. 2005. SANGONeT.

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document. Please provide an acknowledgment to SANGONeT.

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