Draft Constitution and Governance Document for We Will Speak Out SA. September 2016

WWSOSA was launched on the 25th of November 2013, by the Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Reverend Thabo Makgoba when he committed the Anglican Communion to break the silence around SGBV in South Africa.   There has been a number of activities and events since, but the lack of resources and structures limited the growth of the coalition. A grant from AmplifyChange created an opportunity to formalise the coalition. Members and interested parties met on the 9^th and 10^th of March 2016 in Johannesburg for a strategic discussion.

At this meeting an Interim Steering Committee was selected to take the process forward. Members were:

Rev Desmond Lesejane (Sonke Gender Justice),

Ms Lyn van Rooyen (CABSA), Pastor Xana McCauly (GEMA & Rhema),

Mr Sabelo Mashwama (Hope Africa) and Dr Stephanie Thomas (Zoë Life).

Organisational changes led to Rev Bafana Khumalo becoming the representative for Sonke and Ms Delene Mark for Hope Africa.

The Committee has had a number of electronic meetings, shared many, many emails and phone calls, and had an opportunity to meet face-to-face for two days.

Progress

In spite of many challenges we can report some progress:

The interim steering committee developed a draft constitution and governance policy. See below.
A membership policy and membership application form was developed.
Attendance lists and membership information were combined and a database and electonic mailing system developed. You can register for Newsletters here
An interim coordinator and administrative support is in place to formalise the secretariat and register the coalition with the NPO directorate.

Meetings

There are a number of events we would like to highlight during the next few weeks. The steering committee would like to present the draft constitution and governance documents to as many members and interested parties as possible for input and suggestions.

Gauteng Region

Date: Saturday, 17 September 2016 (Last day of the Truth be Told Conference)

Venue: Rhema Randburg – BC3 Room

Time: 11h00

Western Cape Region

Date: Tuesday, 25^th October 2016

Venue: HOPE Africa, 1 Braehead Road Kenilworth, Cape Town

Time: 11h00

RSVP: Thandeka Mashwama thandeka@hopeafrica.org.za

KwaZulu-Natal Region

Date: Monday, 3 October

Venue: Zoë-Life, 7 Brendon Lane, Westville, Durban

Time: 11:00 – 13:00

If you can’t attend In addition to the meetings, the draft documents are available here for input. Please provide any input by email to Rose Owen rose@phelamanga.co.za

Annual General Meeting Ideally this process should be completed in time for the Annual General Meeting which is provisionally planned for the 25^th of November 2016. (Details to follow). If the coalition accepts the final constitution, the process of registering the Coalition can be started by the interim coordinator.

File: