24/08/2026
What happens when we invest in the NGO — not just the project?
South Africa’s unemployment rate has risen to 33.6%, while youth unemployment remains at an extraordinarily high 47.4%.
Behind those numbers are communities in which local NGOs are trying every day to respond to unemployment, poverty, food insecurity, disability, mental-health challenges and limited access to opportunity.
Over the past 12 months, Khulisa Social Solutions has worked with 10 core community-based organisations across Great Kei Local Municipality, the Grassridge beneficiary communities and Makana Local Municipality, including Makhanda.
Importantly, a different wind farm community trust funded the programme in each of these three areas. Renewable-energy community investment can do more than fund individual projects. It can build the capacity of local organisations that remain in communities, understand their lived realities, and continue responding to local needs long after a particular funding cycle has ended.
Across the seven NGOs in the Grassridge and Makana programmes, 100% demonstrated measurable improvements in governance and financial management. All seven developed comprehensive monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and board functionality improved across every organisation. Five of the seven, or approximately 71%, secured new funding during the programme period. Participant satisfaction reached 86.6% in Grassridge and 95% in Makana.
In Great Kei, all three core participating NGOs completed the full organisational development pathway, representing a 100% completion rate, with participant satisfaction of 93.4%.
When a community organisation has a functioning board, sound financial controls, an organisational strategy, credible monitoring and evaluation systems, and the ability to raise funding, we have strengthened a piece of community infrastructure.
There is also a significant opportunity here for South Africa’s renewable-energy sector: to view community trusts not merely as project funders, but as potential catalysts for stronger, locally led development ecosystems.
At a time when millions of South Africans, particularly young people, are seeking pathways into employment and opportunity, local infrastructure matters enormously.
We cannot address systemic challenges through fragmented projects alone. We need strong local organisations, capable local leadership and communities with the institutional strength to drive their own development.
https://khulisa.org.za/eastern-cape-ngo-programme-shows-measurable-gains-in-grassroots-capacity-as-youth-unemployment-reaches-47-4/
