WHO We ARE
SCAT is a veteran
human rights and social justice, philanthropy (re-granting) organisation which has been in existence for 40 years. It has pioneered and developed a model of development that has been acknowledged as both empowering and sustainable with tangible impact at the local level.
Our mission is to empower communities, strengthen civil society, and promote social change in partnership with local development agencies which act as community-driven responses to social justice
SCAT Founder Trustees
Barry Streek
Founder Trustee
Barry Streek was a founder trustee of SCAT and convenor of the Trust. He worked for many years as a political writer for the Daily Dispatch, Cape Times and the Mail & Guardian. He was the former chairperson of the Parliamentary Press Gallery association.
Barry was passionate about SCAT and it’s purpose. He was not one to follow rules, especially unjust rules, and encouraged SCAT to support activists and to be on the side of justice and human rights. He motivated the team, read every report and knew every LDA. He was one of a kind and a man of principle.
Barry passed away on Friday 21 July 2006 after a brave battle with cancer.
Di Oliver
Founder Trustee
Diana (Di) Oliver has a long and distinguished service in the non-profit sector. She trained as a social worker. Her principles for justice and human rights led her to join the Black Sash as a member from 1978 to 1995. She was a trustee of the Black Sash for 22 years and served a term as it’s chairperson. She was also a trustee of the CDRA (Community Development Resource Association) for many years. As a founding trustee of SCAT, serving the organisation for more than two decades, she helped to build SCAT into an accountable, developmental grantmaking organisation that had the empowerment of human beings as a principle.
Gordon Young
Founder Trustee
Gordon Young is the reason SCAT built a funding reserve, purchased a building in the inner city when it was not fashionable and encouraged the organisation to build some financial independence. He promoted the Fundraising Incentive Scheme (FRIS) as a vehicle that could help empower SCAT partners to build their own skills in fundraising and to be rewarded for successful fundraising activities. He is a visionary and pioneer of empowerment ventures like the Ditikeni Trust.
Founding SCAT
Barry Streek came to my office in Oslo towards the end of 1984 to present the Social Change Assistance Trust (SCAT) and the idea behind it. We were asked to sign an agreement so that SCAT and the Church of Norway could be partners. I understood most of what he said, liked the idea and signed up. When Barry left the office, I said to myself “a very good idea”. SCAT never was about words. It never was about talking or discussing. SCAT was about action. A lot of action. The first time I visited a SCAT office was when I woke up one morning in February 1985 in Barry’s house. The house was already full of people. In nothing near normal office attire, Barry was dealing with them. They came with project applications, project problems, all of them full of enthusiasm about their own project.
SCAT responded to a definite need. So much of the support for work and projects in South Africa happened through churches, trade unions and other umbrella organizations, which were linked to one or other ideologically biased party. Here was an organization that did not ask about ideological or religious orientation. It was only interested in the project as such. Criteria for receiving funds were simple, but strict – especially if there was to be a continuation. And it grew. More was needed, and more funds came because people in Norway saw that this was solid work. I was especially happy to see the variety: advice offices, meeting halls, craft workshops, work in rural areas, projects in which nobody else was involved. I visited many of them. I was always overwhelmed by the variety of projects. But they all had this in common: They were rooted in the local community.
More than I remember projects, I remember people: those sneaking into a hotel meeting room in the middle of the State of Emergency, others in hiding from police. Teresa Solomons was one of those people. She oversaw a place in Woodlands, Mitchells Plain and became the mayor of Cape Town, then South Africa’s high commissioner in Tanzania and Canada. Despite everything, with regard to the projects, we met people of integrity and concern. It has always been a great joy to relate to the leadership of SCAT: in discussing issues, in disagreeing, in laughter, in concern. SCAT has been a collection of competent and highly dedicated people. It grew as an organization that did more than channel funds. There were few staff members at the beginning. We were very clear that we did not want an organization with staff running projects. The staff had to support those who ran the projects. That required more and more competence on the side of staff. They got it.
Most importantly, however, is that the work of SCAT has been carried by the fundamental conviction that every person has inherent dignity. That is a conviction that can take us through all kinds of political, philosophical and religious disagreements. SCAT’s work is about enhancing that dignity in every person.
Reverend Canon Dr Trond Bakkevig, Church of Norway
The Dullah Omar School (DOS) for Paralegalism is a partnership project with the Black Sash and CAOSA (Community Advice Offices South Africa). DOS ran for the 8th time this year in October.
SCAT Trustees
SCAT Trustees are all volunteers who give of their time and skills to make sure our governance is in line with our statutes and NPO and PBO standards.
Lorenzo Wakefield
Chairperson, Board of Trutees
Lorenzo Wakefield has LL.B and LL.M degrees from the University of the Western Cape. He is currently employed as a program officer at the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, where he manages a grantmaking portfolio on community justice in Africa. Previously he worked at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Open Society Foundation for South Africa. He also serves on the board of the Triangle Project and in 2012 was selected as the Mail and Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans.
Valerie Jonathan
Trustee, Finance Committee
Valerie Jonathan is a SCAT trustee since 2013. She is a senior manager, customer relations at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) where she’s worked in both finance and customer relations for over 20 years. She has a post-graduate diploma in business administration from the UCT Graduate School of Business. Valerie is an entrepreneur, a wife, mother and grandmother.
Deena Bosch
Trustee, Chair Programmes
Deena Bosch has a long association with SCAT having started in the organisation as a fieldworker and what was then called the Development Fund Coordinator. Deena was one of the champions of the pioneering Fundraising Incentive Scheme. Deena is an activist and has worked for Women on Farms, the Treatment Action Campaign and most recently the Black Sash. She is also a board member of the Community Health Media Trust and HWB. She serves on the board of Ditikeni Investment Company.
Nomathamsanqa Masiko-Mpaka
Trustee
Nomathamsanqa Masiko-Mpaka is a peace and security practitioner and human rights activist, with a multi-disciplinary background in political science, international relations, gender studies, security studies and international law. She is the South Africa Researcher at Human Rights Watch where she provides human rights monitoring, research, and advocacy in South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho.
Nomathamsanqa has published on a variety of human rights issues in Africa, including transitional justice, gender-based violence and women, peace and security. Prior to joining Human Rights Watch, she worked for the Embassy of Ireland in Pretoria, where she led and consolidated the Embassy’s strategic and policy engagement on human rights, gender equality, governance, sustainable development and peace and security. Nomathamsanqa holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree in Political Science and Public Policy Administration from the University of Cape Town, a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from Stellenbosch University, as well as a Master of Science degree in Security, Leadership and Society (Cum Laude) from King’s College, London.
Mandisa Shandu
Trustee, Human Resources
Mandisa Shandu is the Executive Director of Ndifuna Ukwazi (“NU”). NU is a non-profit activist organisation and Law Centre that combines litigation, research and community organising in campaigns aimed at advancing urban land justice in Cape Town. The organisation’s primary mission is to expand and protect access to affordable housing towards building a more equal and spatially just city. Mandisa founded the NU Law Centre in 2015. She is a University of Cape Town graduate holding a B.Soc.Sci degree in political science, an LLB degree and an LLM in Constitutional and Administrative Law with distinction.
Lungisa Gwen Mvula
Trustee
Lungisa Gwen Mvula holds a master’s in environmental education from Rhodes University. The title of her study is “ How can development of a school environment policy contribute to active learning in the context of RNCS”. She also holds a bachelor’s in theology and is a teacher by profession. Lungisa Gwen Mvula is a deputy principal in a primary school in Grahamstown since 1989 and an Anglican priest and Rector of St Phillip’s parish since 2017. A long-standing political and social activist she has been involved with community organisations such as Township Aids Project and GADRA Education since 1989.
SCAT Staff
Joanne Harding
Director, Ex Officio Trustee
Joanne Harding holds a PhD in Public Law from the University of Cape Town. The title of her study is “Women’s legal consciousness in a poor urban community: Finding order in and around the law”. She has been involved with SCAT since 1998 when she was employed as a fieldworker/trainer which was followed by a series of promotions to senior fieldworker/researcher in 2000, field manager in 2002 and communications director in 2004, before being appointed SCAT Director in 2006. Joanne took time out to do her Masters in Social Planning and Administration in 2011 with her thesis focusing on the “Financial sustainability of the non-profit sector in South Africa. At the request of the SCAT board she returned to SCAT in 2016 in order to bring stability to the organisation, which had experienced a number of leadership changes and significant funding losses. She is deeply committed to social justice and gender equality in South Africa.
Seth Tladi
Programme Director
Seaitsiwe (Seth) Tladi joined SCAT as the Programme Manager in 2011 after working in the development sector for more than 20 years. Seth studied in Mafikeng, where he obtained a Bachelor Degree in Accounting and Management. Seth has served on various community development structures and organizations. Seth has also presented papers on Economic Development in the SMME sector both on a local and international level. Seth has co-authored articles and papers on SMME Business Development services best practice Seth is widely traveled and draws from this experience to make a difference in people’s lives. His personal motto is, “Empowering a generation to impact a nation.
Hishaam Nordien
Finance Manager
Hishaam works alongside Mzolisi Nombevu and Nosimilo Filita-Kukhala in SCAT’s Finance Department. He has a National Diploma in Cost and Management Accounting from Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Colleen Alexander-Julies
Senior Programme Officer
Colleen Alexander-Julies joined SCAT for the first time in 2004. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of the Western Cape and a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from the University of South Africa. Colleen has extensive experience in organisational development and capacity building programmes. She has a keen interest in access to justice and supports a rights-based approach to development. Her Interest and passion for human rights led her to the University of Oxford where she obtained a scholarship to complete a certificate in International Human Rights Law in 2000. She is an accredited facilitator and assessor and believes in the “extra-ordinariness of ordinary people”.
Nokukhanya Mchunu
Programme Manager: Research and Advocacy
Nokukhanya Mchunu is a town and regional planning graduate, from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. She has a keen interest in the empowerment of communities. Nokukhanya has eight years’ experience in the development sector, having worked with a few NGOs in the Western Cape. Nokukhanya strongly believes in integrated solutions, and has therefore dedicated herself to supporting communities to find their own answers to becoming sustainable.
Vuyo Msizi
Senior Programme Officer
Vuyo Msizi started working for SCAT in 2011 as a Field Worker in the Eastern Cape. He has participated in diverse community development contexts in the Eastern Cape which includes human rights, adult education and organisational development. He has an Honours Degree in Adult Basic Education & Training and has worked in the civil society sector for more than eighteen years. He has also completed a Labour Relations Management course at the Centre for Business Management and Project Management at the Business School of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Vuyo values the innate ability of people to organise and shape the world. He works from an office in Port Elizabeth.
Katleho Ramafalo
Programme Officer
Katleho Ramafalo joins the team as a Programme Officer supporting Community Based Organisations (CBOs) or grassroots initiatives to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, working with communities in the Eastern Cape and Free State. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Cape Town (UCT) that is centred around theories of justice and inequality. With a background in Theatre and Performance, Media Studies and Sociology, she brings a multi-disciplinary approach to her practice.
Claire Tapscott
Climate Change Programme Coordinator
Claire holds a Master of Social Science degree specialising in Global Studies from the University of Cape Town. She joined SCAT in late 2020 as an intern and was appointed as the EU Climate Change Champions Programme Coordinator in mid-2021. Claire is committed to advancing the capacity of rural community-based organisations to respond to the climate emergency and to building their resilience to the anticipated socio-economic and ecological challenges. She is also passionate about environmental advocacy and promoting animal welfare.
Kate Mabye
Programme Officer, Limpopo CBO Capacity Building
Kate Mabye started working for SCAT in September 2023. She is based in Limpopo and assigned to the Limpopo CBO Capacity Building project which works with communities around the Mogalakwena Mine. Kate holds a degree in Community Development from UNISA and believes in sustainable development that empower communities. She also founded the Kholofelang Youth Empowerment organisation in response to the needs of young people in her community. She is a mother of three, a GBV survivor and an HIV/Aids ambassador.
Nosimilo Filita-Kukhala
Finance Administrator
Nosimilo Filita-Kukhala started working for SCAT in June 2018 as a part time Finance Assistant. She also worked for Philanthropy Leadership Network as an Administrator until December 2019. She was previously employed by Ikhala Trust in Port Elizabeth as a Grantee Administrator for 10 years. Nosimilo values working in the NGO Sector as it is all about making a difference in people’s lives and admiring the good things that the people are able to do using their skills and talents.
Abigail Steedsman
Administrator
Abigail Steedsman joined SCAT in 2014. Her strong interest in Rural Development led to her becoming a permanent member of staff in 2015. Currently managing the administration of the Cape Town office as well as assisting the LDA’s with all admin queries, she believes in building good relationships, operating at a quick pace and providing excellent service. Abigail’s ambition lays in wanting to gain more knowledge about capacity building and field work.
In Memoriam - Mzolisi Nombevu
SCAT Bookkeeper from 1 June 2018 to 28 March 2024
9 May 1981 — 28 March 2024
Mzolisi Nombewu was born on Thursday 9 May 1981 in Katkop, a village close to Mount Fletcher in the Eastern Cape, to his mother, MamVulane, Nobesuthu Nombewu and his late father, a Dlamini, Thamsanqa Nombewu. His father passed away when Mzo was still a young boy and Mzo became a crucial support to his mother and younger brothers from this time. He was a devoted father to his own children, Achuma and Ayola, and a beloved husband to his wife, Sange.
The SCAT team has lost a trusted and hard-working colleague. We lost a humble soul, a brother and confidant, and a beloved friend.
Mzolisi was one of a kind and will not be forgotten.
Indiphile Matini
Assistant Programme Officer
Indiphile Matini, she/her, is currently employed as an Assistant Programme Officer at SCAT. She holds an honours degree in Social Policy and Management from the University of Cape Town. Her involvement in the Rural Action for Climate Resilience project, and recently, the GBVF and YouthBank programmes has allowed her to broaden her skillset and continue to make an impact in society. When not at work, Indiphile enjoys walking in the forest and the occasional concert at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. She spends much of her time with friends, or out in the city, where she attends and participates in open mic poetry nights. Her ability to communicate has been honed not only on stage, but in workshops rooms and through online facilitation, through her work at SCAT.
Brigett Siphosethu Matomela
Assistant Programme Officer
Brigett Siphosethu Matomela is an Assistant Programme Officer at SCAT. Her main focus is on the Anglo-American Sustainable Livelihoods Project as well as the Capacity Building Project for CBO’s based in Limpopo. She is a registered Candidate Scientist in the field of Geoscience with an honour’s degree in BSc Geohydrology from the Institute of Groundwater studies at the University of the Free State and is currently pursuing her post graduate qualification in Data Science. Brigett is passionate about development and promoting a sustainable future for rural communities.
Thembi Tshongoyi
Intern, Programmes Team
Thembi Tshongoyi is the new programme team’s intern at SCAT. She will mainly assist the programme team and programme director. She holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree from the University of Fort Hare. Thembi, appreciates the opportunity to work at SCAT because of its promotion of social equality which is in alignment with her values. Thembi, enjoys listening to jazz, watching documentaries and taking pictures of her surroundings.
our Work
