The Tipfuxeni Project was launched in Parktown in Johannesburg on Tuesday 24 September.
The project, funded by the National Lottery Trust and a collaboration between government, the Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) and South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO) aims to provide South African non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with a “user-friendly “one-stop’ internet entry point to information on South African development funding issues’.
The project allows funders to communicate with NGOs in South Africa and connects South African NGOs with each other to share “up-to-date information and capacity- building resources to enhance their fundraising efforts’.
The project is in line with the government’s National Development Plan and has been developed with the National Broadband Advisory Council, established to ensure that government, the private sector, academia and civil society work together to reach the SA Connect broadband policy targets.
The SA Connect policy aims to give every South African access to a broadband connection at a cost of 2.5% or less of the average monthly income.
Speaking at the launch deputy minister for national planning, performance monitoring and evaluation, Buti Manamela, said the National Broadband Policy [South Africa Connect] seeks to move the country away from over-reliance on mobile broadband and to achieve 100% broadband penetration by 2020.
“Minister Siyabonga Cwele [minister of telecommunications and postal services] has indicated that in the current financial year, R20-million has been allocated for the finalisation of the first phase of the Broadband Plan. In the medium term, government is looking to connect 580 clinics, 4 444 schools, 182 police stations, and 572 other government offices.’
The Tipfuxeni Project
The first phase of the project is a web platform that allows NGOS to “share content, access funding opportunities, undertake online fundraising, profile their own work and share best practice models’.
According to Manamela, “The Tipfuxeni Project recognises that information and communication technologies have a critical role to play in ensuring that NPOs embrace the vision outlined in the NDP’s Vision 2030.
“The project is founded on the belief that access to ICT plays a crucial role in creating conditions for meaningful participation of people in society.’
He said that the Xitsonga word Tipfuxeni, which means “do it for yourself’, is a critical underpinning of the national call to action: “Together We Move South Africa Forward’, and added that Tipfuxeni is being rolled out while government is focused on harnessing ICT more effectively to create an internationally competitive knowledge economy, improve productivity and expand access to new markets and social development. Manamela concluded saying that the Tipfuxeni Project would ultimately empower communities by strengthening NGOs.
