Support Centre for Land Change

07/10/2026

07/10/2026

Community and Climate Resilience in Merweville

Last week, the SCLC team held a three-day capacity enhancement workshop with the Merweville Fruit and Vegetable Garden team, joined by food producers and smallholder farmers from Prince Albert and Nelspoort.

On Day 1, we explored the Asset-Based Community Development framework, reflecting on who we are, what we have and our vision for our gardens. We grounded ourselves through the elements and explored how our emotions influence the way we engage with one another and shape our lives. We also discussed climate change, the potential impacts of El Niño on food production, and practical ways to reduce our contribution to climate change and adapt to its effects.

Days 2 and 3 brought these discussions into practice through hands-on agroecology training in the Merweville Garden. Together, we prepared garden beds and planted sweet potato vines, wild onion, wild rosemary, blue mountain sage, wilde als, cancer bush and several other plants. Despite water challenges following the theft of a crucial piece of infrastructure, the Merweville team resourcefully arranged an alternative water source.

Throughout the training, we emphasised teamwork, unity and caring relationships within the garden team. We reflected on how the care and intention we bring to the garden shape our gardening practices and our relationships with the soil, plants and one another.

Our final activity was planting two date trees at the garden’s entrance. These trees stand as a living symbol of our shared efforts over the three days and a reminder of what we can achieve when we work together.

We thank the Merweville Fruit and Vegetable Garden team for their warm hospitality, and our comrades from Prince Albert and Nelspoort for their commitment and support. We trust that the seeds planted—both in the soil and through our shared learning—will continue to grow, strengthening the garden, our relationships and our collective resilience.

25/09/2026

Heritage Day with Green Gardens Foundations

Yesterday, we gathered at the Green Gardens Foundations learning site in Pacaltsdorp to celebrate Heritage Day under the theme, “The Soil From Which We Come.” We were honoured to hear from residents and speakers whose contributions brought the history, culture and community of Pacaltsdorp, also known as Hooggekraal, to life.

Aunt Mona Olieslager, a Khoi Head Woman, opened with a powerful greeting in the Khoi language. She invited us to explore our roots - our komvandaan - and reminded us that knowing where we come from helps us understand where we are going.

Mr Melvin Roelfse, MMC for Social Development, reflected on the importance of knowing and embodying our komvandaan as a source of strength for our communities. He encouraged us to approach challenges with a positive frame of mind and to recognise the strength we have when we unite.

We then heard from Ms Angelic Vezasie, Director for Psychosocial and Court at Legally You, a local NPO supporting survivors of gender-based violence. She spoke about the relationships we build within our families and communities, the behaviour we model at home, and the importance of resolving conflict without violence.

Medicine woman and elder Aunt Christina Willemse shared her knowledge of local herbs and plants, including their traditional uses. She also spoke about the vital role women play in our communities.

To close the programme, GGF Chairperson Uncle Andrew thanked SCLC for helping to establish a nursery and obtain plants for the learning site. He then led the planting of cancer bush, wormwood, artichokes, two varieties of grapes, celery, parsley and kei apple trees. As an indigenous tree with delicious fruit, the kei apple holds special meaning for us, and we are excited to help re-establish it in the Hooggekraal area.

It was a dynamic day, where some members of the team along with loyal volunteers were busy in the garden establishing a new nursery and planting potatoes.

Before everyone left, we shared a delicious meal prepared by Oom Bul, a local caterer, who made both meat and vegetarian potjiekos.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to the day. We look forward to building on the connections and momentum we created together.

17/09/2026

What does equitable access to land mean? With civil society participants from around the country, we are shaping what we'd like it to mean, what it needs to cover, and how it can achieve justice for landless citizens.

10/09/2026

SCLC is part of the Ecopolitics school 2026. This year the school focuses on the global political system driving Climate change and the impact this is having on us and on our environment.
Monitoring Group

31/08/2026

Klaarstroom Community: Strength, Leadership & Vision

The SCLC team recently met with residents of the informal settlement in Klaarstroom, Central Karoo, to reflect together on the community’s strengths, challenges and experiences.

We were inspired by the strong, women-led community leadership and the clear vision residents hold for the future of their community. Their determination, resilience and commitment to creating better conditions for themselves and their families are deeply powerful.

SCLC stands alongside the Klaarstroom community and intends to support them in their ongoing struggle for a dignified life, access to basic services and a future where their rights and aspirations are respected.

We thank the community for welcoming us and sharing their experiences, hopes and vision with us.

Strength in community. Dignity for all. ❤️

31/08/2026

Treintjiesrivier Emerging Farmers: Growing Together

Last week, the Support Centre for Land Change (SCLC) met with the Treintjiesrivier Emerging Farmers of Prince Albert to reflect on their current strengths, challenges and experiences as farmers.

After our discussion, we headed out onto the farm for a walkabout, getting to see the work taking place on the ground -from goats and pigs to herbs and vegetables. 🐐🐖🌿🥬

We are grateful to the farmers for welcoming us, sharing their knowledge and showing us around their farming operations. These visits remind us of the resilience, dedication and potential that exists within our rural farming communities.

We wish the Treintjiesrivier Emerging Farmers strength, growth and abundance on the journey ahead. 🌾❤️

Together, we grow. Together, we build resilient communities.

25/08/2026

13th Annual Rural Women’s Assembly: After the Storm, We Rise

This past weekend, women from the Garden Route, Central Karoo and Eastern Cape gathered for the 13th Annual Rural Women’s Platform, hosted by the Support Centre for Land Change (SCLC) and held at Eagles Nest in the Garden Route.

This year’s theme, “Building Climate Resilience for Women Through Better Service Delivery and Adaptation,” created space for women to reflect, connect, dream, create and take action around the challenges facing their communities.

We opened Day 1 with a beautiful water ceremony, inviting in the feminine energy of water and sending our blessings through the water. From there, we grounded ourselves in the question: Why are we here? Together, we explored the broader context in which our communities live and the ways in which climate change is already affecting rural women and their livelihoods.

The song African Dream by Vicky Sampson invited us to pause and reflect on the importance of our dreams - and of holding a vision for the future, even in difficult times.

We then went deeper into understanding climate change, its impacts and the systems that drive it, exploring the role of capitalism and unequal systems of production and consumption in shaping the climate crisis.

Under the creative themes “After the Storm” and “Life, Death and Rebirth,” women were invited to express their reflections through creativity. What emerged was incredibly powerful: songs, poems, music and movement that spoke to the cyclical nature of women, nature, life, death, renewal and rebirth.

The day closed with a community mapping exercise, where women identified the challenges and service delivery gaps experienced in their respective communities. In the evening, we came together for a joyful social supper, dressed in black, celebrating the beauty, strength and sisterhood that emerges when women gather.

Day 2 opened with women sharing words, songs and dances of encouragement, stirring a deep well of emotion and reminding us of the power we carry when we uplift one another.

From there, women worked together in their communities to develop action plans responding to the challenges and service delivery gaps they had identified. We then created space to settle and restore the nervous system through arts and crafts, with each woman making her own necklace using shells and beads - a beautiful reminder that resilience is also found in creativity, connection and rest.

In our closing ceremony, we returned the water carrying our blessings back to the Earth. Each woman also took home a gift brought to the gathering by another woman - a simple but powerful exchange of generosity, care and sisterhood.

"We came together as women.
We reflected on the storms we face.
We remembered our power to create, adapt and transform.
And we left carrying seeds of hope, action and renewal back into our communities."

SCLC extends its deepest gratitude to each and every woman who attended, shared, created, danced, dreamed, listened and contributed to making the 13th Annual Rural Women’s Assembly such a meaningful and powerful gathering.

When women come together, communities move forward.