SDC's governance programme in South Africa aims at supporting democratisation, i.e. by strengthening efficient democratic structures, building a pluralistic civil society, and supporting a human rights culture. Following the transformation of the society since 1994, SDC has progressively shifted its focus from supporting mainly non-governmental organisations working in the area of human rights to promoting access to justice and decentralisation in partnership with government and non-governmental institutions. At the same time, as part of SDC's Southern African programme under development, some regional projects have been initiated.

Our programme:
In the area of justice and reconciliation, SDC's has developed a very strong relationship with the Department of Justice. It is supporting the reform of the child justice system, which will allow young offenders to be treated according to international standards. Another example of interventions is the support to the transformation of the Sheriffs' profession under the auspices of the Department of Justice. SDC also supports the Young Offender Rehabilitation Programme of the National Institute for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation (NICRO), which has the objective to develop an model for reintegration of offenders into the society, in collaboration with the Department of Correctional Services. Presently, SDC is developing a TV series in partnership with SABC 2 which seeks to develop the confidence of ordinary people in the justice system and their capacity to access justice.

Recognizing that the decentralisation and local government issues remain critical for the implementation of the general government policies, SDC's has entered into partnership with different institutions, both governmental and non-governmental. For instance, it is supporting the establishment of the Provincial Affairs and Intergovernmental Institute in Pretoria and, with Stats-SA, the South African Statistics Department within the Ministry of Finance, a programme designed to develop and produce a census on non-financial data at local government level has been launched. Programmes of the education and land sectors also contributed to support the local government structures in the pilot nodal areas of Matatiele and North East region of the Eastern Cape (East Griqualand).

Some programmes in the area of human rights continue to be implemented. Taking into account the good human rights record of South Africa and the existing governmental mechanisms (legislation, human rights institutions), the focus is on human rights and citizenship education.

At regional level, projects are implemented in partnership with the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, Idasa and the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.