South African National Civics Organisation

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.^[3] 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^[8][9] and contested as a registered political party in the 2021 municipal elections.

References

1. Seekings, Jeremy (1997). "SANCO: Strategic Dilemmas in a Democratic South Africa". Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa. 34: 1–30.
2. Moloi, Lucky (10 February 2022). "Without Sanco, the Alliance is one leg short". IOL. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
3. Seekings, Jeremy (2000), "After Apartheid: Civic Organizations in the 'New' South Africa", From Comrades to Citizens, London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 205–224, doi:10.1057/9780230596207_8, ISBN 978-1-349-41640-0, retrieved 21 November 2022.
4. Ndletyana, Mcebisi (1 January 1999). "The civic movement: a toothless watchdog?". Indicator South Africa. 16 (3): 34–38. hdl: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. doi:10.2307/525319. ISSN 0002-0206. JSTOR 525319. S2CID 144560934.
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. University of KwaZulu-Natal. S2CID 152998696.
7. 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" (PDF). Centre for Policy Studies. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
8. Maliti, Soyiso (22 October 2020). "Sanco asks IEC not to register Isanco for next year's election". Dispatch. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
9. Nyembezi, Nkululeko (10 April 2021). "Sanco's breakaway movement Isanco vows to change SA's political landscape". SABC News. Retrieved 21 November 2022.