CORC bids farewell to Programme Coordinator, Sikulile Nkhoma

Today, CORC bids Sikulile Nkhoma, Programme Coordinator since January 2011, farewell and fruitful future endeavours. Siku joined the South African Alliance in January 2011 when the Alliance met at Kolping House, Cape Town to strategically plan for the medium to long term. At the Kolping House strategic meeting, the Alliance adopted the “pledge of renewal”, which outlines the Alliance four pronged strategy for “upgrading lives, building the nation”.

1. Capacitate communities associated with FEDUP and ISN;
2. Build partnerships with government at all tiers;
3. Implement partnerships through projects; and
4. Keep record of learning, monitoring and evaluation

Siku relocated from Malawi, where she helped set up the Malawi Homeless People’s Federation, and the later the support NGO Centre for Community Organisation and Development (CCODE). Since its inception in 2003, CCODE has supported MHPF and mobilised an increasing number of poor communities across the country around issues of settlement development. Over the past 18 months, Siku has worked tireless in supporting the FEDUP and ISN strengthen community networks, revive woman-led savings, and open new political spaces.

At today’s leaving party, Siku said,

I think out roles as the NGO is to just trigger; the people can do it. This is something that I have learned being here. We exist to ensure that communities are the drivers of the change they want to be. They will do it, but they might do it in 20 years without support. If we do anything without the community, the projects will be boutique projects; we might smile at it, but it will not bring real change.

Reflecting on her work, Siku remarked that “we are actually changing the way South Africa thinks. And this is what is happening with the projects that we are doing. Government will be stuck in the policy and history of urban development in South Africa. The turning point will be on how urban life changed, even though it might take three, four more years, but this is what will happen. For me it has been a priviledge to be a part of this big story”