Uitenhage

The Interchurch Local Development Agency (ILDA) is located in Uitenhage which is 45 kilometres from Port Elizabeth and falls within the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro (NMBM).

ILDA is one of Scat's five Mentor LDA's, providing mentorship and peer to peer support to other LDAs partnered with Scat.  

The Nelson Mandela Metro has a population of 1.1 million with 52% being female.  The LDA serves the townships of Uitenhage (including Kwanobuhle and Langa) and a number of surrounding communities including Kirkwood, Addo, Despatch and Motherwell.  There are thirty primary and seventeen secondary schools in Uitenhage with up to 9 clinics, which are accessed by most community members and two private hospitals.

According to the 2009 Integrated Development Plan, there are 35 257 households in informal areas, 289 000 households in formal areas and approximately 49 009 qualifying households in backyard shacks. Most communities across the NMBM have access to clean water (93% of households) and basic sanitation systems (93%).

The LDA was established in 1985 and was first funded by SCAT in 1988.  It is operated by three staff members – two women and one man – and the director is a woman.  The Committee is made up of five women and one man. 

Gender is included in the LDA plans through their Leadership Training objective where their intention is to target women involved in local organizations.  The LDA has however been active in providing support to women in the community.  This includes: 

§  Paralegal advice (on labour legislation, inheritance, etc.) and referrals for cases of domestic violence

§  Education around relevant legislation such as the Domestic Violence Act

§  Leadership training with women

§  Training of child carers who are involved in the LDA’s OVC programme so that they can transfer these skills to the children who are in their care.

§  Self-development workshops for women which involves introspection and talking about themselves as women.

§  Counseling regarding marriage and decision making

§  Co-facilitation together with the Gender Commission

Most of the above mentioned activities are not reflected in the LDAs plans, but are rather implemented informally.  

In 2009, 11 women who were victims of emotional and physical abuse were supported by the LDAs and 15 children victims of physical abuses were supported.

They are soon planning to start a gender project and are having debates in the community around the purpose and role of such a project.

The LDA implements a number of HIV activities which include referrals to support groups, education on HIV stigma and discrimination, condom distribution, HIV awareness, assistance with accessing of grants and nutritional programs. The HIV program has a gender and HIV component that deals with prevention, negotiating safe sex and women’s increased vulnerability to contracting HIV.

Gender equality is promoted within the LDA.  It is contained in their constitution and policies and rights-based approach underpins their work.  Leadership is shared and they promote opportunities for staff to learn, grow and build capacity. Women employees and committee members have participated in capacity development activities such as training on personal growth, HIV, and Counseling.  This combined with the fact that most of employees and committee members are survivors of gender based violence themselves, provided a good foundation for the implementation of gender projects.

The LDA is gender sensitive in terms of their policies on child care facilities for after hours work, maternity leave and family responsibility leave, which are all in line with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

Whilst women in the community are aware of their ‘struggles’, they have not linked it to the issue of gender and gender relations.  Men in the community do not play much of a role in community development issues and therefore it is assumed that their understanding of women’s and children’s rights remains extremely limited.

Uitenhage Advice Office
Interchurch Legal Development Agency (ILDA)
58 Constitution Road
P.O. Box 603
UITENHAGE, 6230
Tel: 073 807 0035, 078 837 6458
Tel/Fax: 041 992 3093
Email: iinterchurch@webmail.co.za, nmofokeng@hotmail.com, nelson.teyise@yahoo.com
NPO: 016-141
Contact: Nanoipha Mjuza
Alternative Contact: Nobuzwe Mofokeng
Email: nmofokeng@hotmail.com