Civil society is made up of thousands of different actors with varying degrees of formality. These actors play different roles in society; some look long term at broader structural issues, others are focused on short-term goals, such as ensuring access to food relief.

These organisations have different strategies for engaging with government depending on their objective. Some focus on holding government accountable and transforming the state by rattling the status quo. Others play more of a collaborative role to boost government’s capacity.

Given the composition and size of the sector, civil society can be relatively quick in responding in times of crisis with a nuanced understanding of community needs. Whereas governments are large and slow bureaucratic entities with onerous legal and administrative obligations. The ongoing challenge in the working relationship between government and civil society is that too often government prefers to treat civil society exclusively as a service provider instead of a partner for innovation.

In this podcast, we explore whether there is a ‘sweet spot’ to working with government, particularly for those organisations supporting government’s capacity. Our guests, DGMT’s Senzo Hlophe and Professor Shafika Isaacs, Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, talk about their experiences of dealing with government during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

Visit www.dgmt.co.za/is-there-a-sweet-spot-to-working-with-government to read more and access the takeaway instructions.

The Learning Lunch podcast features three types of episodes: Deep Dives; Nourish & Flourish; and Best Bites.

Each podcast/learning lunch session is structured as follows:
The Main Meal - A ±30-minute podcast
The Takeaways - Instructions for a ±30-minute group reflection based on what you listened to.

To learn more about the work that we do, go to www.dgmt.co.za