A Review of the Efficacy of the People’s Budget Campaign – Assessing our Engagement with Government After 10 Years of Democracy in South Africa

Paulus E¹*

1. COSATU Parliamentary Off- People’s Budget campaign, Cape Town, South Africa

The People’s Budget Campaign People’s Budget Campaign consists of the South African NGO Coalition (SANGOCO), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Council of Churches (SACC). It represents the three key pillars of civil society, namely the church community, non-governmental organisations, and trade unions.

In December 2003, a presentation on this civil society initiative was made to the UNDESA Conference in Sri Lanka. Subsequently, an evaluation and assessment on the efficacy of the Campaign was commissioned and workshopped at a conference in Johannesburg on 28 October 2004.

The paper will analyse the implications of these findings and discuss deliberations with regards to what ‘engaging governance’ entails in a 10 year-old South African democracy. It will highlight strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and outline new areas of engagement, and how to align the Campaign’s structure and objectives with new developments in government since 2003.

It is hoped that the paper would contribute to a deeper understanding of the elements and challenges facing civil society in engaging the State in ensuring the realisation of Constitutional and developmental objectives. Particularly in the context of the persistent and severe inequalities inherited from the apartheid government, despite significant initiatives of the SA government, legislature and judiciary and our perspectives of the reasons underpinning these challenges.