South African National Civics Organisation Explained

The South African National Civics Organisation or South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) is an umbrella political organisation in South Africa. It was founded in March 1992 to coordinate among existing civic organisations, which had been central in the latter phases of the struggle against apartheid.^[1] At its founding conference, 2,000 organisations were represented.^[2] In practice, affiliate organisations retained a great deal of autonomy.^[3]

Primarily aligned to the African National Congress (ANC), SANCO played a high profile role in Track II initiatives during the negotiations to end apartheid, particularly with respect to the transformation of local government in South Africa. Although relations with the ANC were sometimes strained,^[4] the two organisations were close enough that until 2002 SANCO was commonly referred to as the "plus one" of the ANC's Tripartite Alliance,^[5] a term later avoided because civic activists felt it devalued SANCO.^[6] By 2001, it claimed to have over 4,000 local branches.^[7]

In 2020, a breakaway group was formed under the name Independent South African National Civic Organisation (ISANCO);^[8] it held its inaugural conference in 2021^[9] and contested as a registered political party in the 2021 municipal elections.

Notes and References

1. Seekings . Jeremy . 1997 . SANCO: Strategic Dilemmas in a Democratic South Africa . Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa . en . 34 . 1–30.
2. Web site: Moloi . Lucky . 10 February 2022 . Without Sanco, the Alliance is one leg short . 2022-11-21 . IOL . en.
3. .
4. Ndletyana . Mcebisi . 1999-01-01 . The civic movement: a toothless watchdog? . Indicator South Africa . 16 . 3 . 34–38 . 10520/AJA0259188X_870 .
5. Lanegran . Kimberly . 1995 . South Africa's Civic Association Movement: ANC's Ally or Society's "Watchdog"? Shifting Social Movement-Political Party Relations . African Studies Review . 38 . 2 . 101–126 . 10.2307/525319 . 525319 . 144560934 . 0002-0206.
6. Zuern . Elke K. . 2004 . Continuity in contradiction? : the prospects for a national civic movement in a democratic state : SANCO and the ANC in post-apartheid South Africa . Globalisation, Marginalisation and New Social Movements in Post-Apartheid South Africa . en . University of KwaZulu-Natal. 152998696 .
7. Web site: Heller . Patrick . Ntlokonkulu . Libhongo . 2001 . A civic movement, or a movement of civics?: The South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) in the post-apartheid period . 22 November 2022 . Centre for Policy Studies.
8. Web site: Maliti . Soyiso . 22 October 2020 . Sanco asks IEC not to register Isanco for next year's election . 2022-11-21 . Dispatch . en-ZA.
9. Web site: Nyembezi . Nkululeko . 2021-04-10 . Sanco's breakaway movement Isanco vows to change SA's political landscape . 2022-11-21 . SABC News . en-US.