Muhammad Bham | mbham@radioislam.co.za
2 min read | 21:46 PM (CAT)

Photo Credit: IPASA

Whilst South Africa is reeling from the long-term impacts of the pandemic, load shedding, high unemployment rate and persistent inequality, not to mention the climate crisis, the way forward calls for a combination of reflection, communication, innovation and critical trust. This is the crux of the 2022 Independent Philanthropy Association of South Africa (IPASA) annual review of South African Philanthropy.

Speaking to Radio Islam International, Louise Driver, IPASA Executive Director, said that the annual review publication was launched two weeks ago and is the fourth edition of its kind. It’s also a unique showcasing of the work of philanthropic foundations in South Africa. It highlights the range and impact of work that funders are doing in South Africa to create a stronger nation and address the many issues we face.

She said independent philanthropy should deal with the country’s systemic change issues. But the emergency response for humanitarian aid, when done repeatedly due to the many crises over the last couple of years, took them away from their long-term developmental strategy.

She said that the lesson has undoubtedly been that our government cannot deal with these crises alone; philanthropy has had to come to the party to help it. She reiterated that we need to work on building the capacity of communities to be more resilient in the faith of these parties which we could foresee many more of them coming from an environmental side because of the impact of climate change and also from the economic side as our country is still facing a downturn.

IPASA is the South African ambassador for the international climate change pledge for philanthropy. Its aim is to drive funders to be aware of the impact of climate change, use the climate lens in their work, and fund various climate change projects. This would mitigate the effect of it and find adaption to allow the communities to be able to handle the impact of it.

Listen to the full podcast of the interview on Your World Today with host Annisa Essack.