Across South Africa’s rural landscapes, where unemployment, climate volatility, and economic inequality continue to challenge communities, a powerful movement is quietly reshaping the future.
A comprehensive overview of the aRe Bapaleng programme, including its impact, approach, and ECD Membership Network offering designed to strengthen early learning, parenting, and community systems.
Enzokuhle Community Waste Collection and Khulisa Intsha Yethu, in collaboration with New Pathways, hosted the Breath Better Together Cleaning Campaign in Orlando East on Moshoeshoe Street on March 26.
Across Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, and Mpumalanga, the programme is creating opportunities for participants while supporting community development. Through activities focused on food security, environmental sustainability, and digital skills, participants are gaining practical experience and contributing to initiatives that strengthen local livelihoods.
As the world prepares to mark World Water Day on 22 March, Seriti Institute is bringing water conservation education directly to communities through activities with young learners at Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres across South Africa.
Grounded in the Nurturing Care Framework, we’ve fostered responsive caregiving, play-based learning, and community resilience — resulting in healthier families, confident parents, and thriving children. In 2025, we achieved QCTO accreditation and expanded our service offering to include climate resilience, entrepreneurship and life skills. We deepened our impact through parent clubs and home visits. This report reflects our journey and sets the stage for scalable, community-led ECD ecosystems.
When Lehlogonolo Hlungwane from Modimolle first joined an aRe Bapaleng workshop, she believed her six-year-old son was simply naughty. He never seemed to listen. It was only after participating in our Active Learning Workshops and receiving home visits from our field coordinator that she realised he had a hearing impairment.
The National Youth Service (NYS) Programme continues to play a critical role in addressing youth unemployment while strengthening community systems. In Phase 4, over 4,000 young people across 45 sites and all nine provinces are gaining structured work experience, practical skills, and a sense of purpose-while delivering essential services in early learning, food security, and environmental action.
During SONA 2026, President Cyril Ramaphosa reaffirmed the importance of “the crucial first 1,000 days” and committed South Africa to ending child stunting by 2030 through strengthened nutrition interventions. In doing so, he placed early childhood development where it belongs, at the centre of our nation’s future.
When the President referenced Standerton in the State of the Nation Address last night, it was a moment of recognition — not for one organisation, but for a model that works. Through the Presidential Employment Stimulus and the Social Employment Fund (SEF), Standerton has seen visible change. Dumping sites have been cleared. Parks have been built.
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