Dr Russell Ally casts a view on the context within which the NPO sector operates today and the significant change we have seen globally in the last two years.

We are living in a world that has experienced significant change over the last two years and during this time, we have seen a marked rise of populist political movements. These are both to the right and left.

The common denominator however, is that people feel their voices are not heard and then gravitate to these populist movements, whether right or left. In most cases though, one sees that the agency is taken away from the people and the leader or the party itself in some cases, substitutes for the people.

People are angry and frustrated and believe that those populist movements will provide the solution and solve their problems when ironically, it is in fact the very movements they gravitate to, that take the agency away from the people.

The role of the NPO sector is therefore even more important now. So as NGOs embed themselves into communities where they can help, the voices of the communities are enhanced, rather than undermined or silenced.

And therefore, it is of critical importance for Inyathelo to empower and capacitate NGOs to play that key role in communities, effectively becoming a counter weight to these forms of populism. Sometimes, the NGOs can be seen to be on the defensive, but the world would indeed be poorer without their presence.

I would also be remiss if I did not reflect on the many conflicts that are happening across the world. These conflicts cannot be seen as something that exists in isolation or is geographically removed from our own domestic challenges.

If I could sum it up, I would say that these conflicts are a test of our humanity, irrespective of which side of the fence you sit on. And sadly, we are failing that test spectacularly, on all sides.

The NPO sector has a duty to raise its voice against the de-humanisation that we see on a daily basis, within the raging conflict. With nearly 300 000 registered NPOs in South Africa, that has the potential to be a really loud voice, and one that has the power to infect the rest of the sector on a continental and even global scale.

In the period before South Africa’s hard fought democracy came to fruition, the eyes of the world was upon us, because of the gross human rights violations that transpired here. The same now has to apply to the many other nations around the globe where heinous atrocities are being committed.

More scrutiny, more pressure, more action and an end to the bloodshed.

This article was first published in Inyathelo's 2025 Annual Report