The CLA leadership course focuses on leadership skills that are crucial for community work and aims to foster sustainable community development.

The course covers all the essential elements in establishing and maintaining a successful community project, from leadership models and personal development, to community project case studies and developing a practical project proposal.

The part-time programme stretches over approximately 18 months.

1. Nomination and selection process

2. Leadership and partnerships as foundation

3. The course

4. Developing a business plan

5. Presentation of business plans, evaluation and monitoring

6. Strength of the programme

1. Nomination and selection process

Nomination forms to take part in the programme are distributed through the district offices of the Department of Social Development of the Provincial Government Western Cape.  Community organisations and networks are requested to nominate representatives or members to attend the course.

The screening and selection process is a crucial part of the programme.  Individuals who have no links to community organisations do not qualify for the course, as participants have to plough their new skills into the community.

The nominees receive a pre-course questionnaire focusing on leadership, team-building and team facilitation that they have to interpret against their own reality to prepare for the course.

The training course addresses the key issues in all successful community projects:

• the quality of leadership; and
• the formation of smart partnerships.

Without these two factors it is impossible to raise the resources needed for community initiatives.

The three crucial elements in successful community projects therefore form the basis of the course:

• human capital – personal skills;
• social capital – the network of relations and partnerships to focus joint action; and
• financial capital for specific proposals – funding.

Former president Nelson Mandela said:

“It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”

The CLA believes we must work with what people have to offer.  It is an interactive course, focusing on leadership skills for community work, where participants have the opportunity to exercise their skills to communicate, organise and present proposals to their fellow participants.

The course elements include:

• A focus on personality, environment, goals, motivations, obstacles and expectations.
• The essence of leadership – vision-building and the ability to mobilise, to inspire and lead.
• The essence of team dynamics and team facilitation skills – the ability to focus the energy of a community, including the characteristics of effective teams, the leader’s role in a well-functioning team and team facilitation skills.
• The formulation of project proposals and business plans – the importance of executive summaries, essential information, presentation skills and budgeting skills.
• The characteristics of successful projects and the reasons some projects fail – successful projects are analysed and an overview of many kinds of projects are given.
• The mobilisation of material and moral support for a project through partnerships – the process and skill of forming partnerships; doing research to find resources; intermediate techniques to access decision-makers.
• HIV and AIDS awareness talk – enhanced by an educational mini-musical that presents the need-to-know facts about HIV and AIDS in an easily understandable way that involves a lot of fun.

The course attendees have 3 to 4 months to develop a business plan to initiate a new project or improve their existing community project.  The business plan should also identify possible partners to implement the project.  Support is given to participants to assist them with their preparation, including the preparation of a short slide show.

The business plan must include the following information:

• Information about the target community (location, people).
• The main strengths and challenges (needs) of the target community.
• The project proposal – activities, outcomes, beneficiaries, possible impact.
• The capacity of institutions/ networks in the target community (office, co-workers, networks); the resources they are contributing; the resources that can possibly be mobilised in the community.
• Financial planning: the (realistic) implementation cost, the time frame, personnel, infrastructure, services, capital.
• Existing networks that could be strategic partners, such as government, business, farmers and religious networks.
• Summary of the business plan in a few slides.

This phase involves a reporting session where the course participants present their business plans in the form of a written summary and an oral presentation with electronic slides.  Constructive criticism is given to improve the plans.

 After presenting the business plans, the participants receive a certificate that acknowledges the successful completion of the course.

A joint committee of the Department of Social Development, the presenters of the CLA and the EFSA Institute evaluate the proposals and provide limited start-up funding for the best proposals.

In some cases the proposals are referred to other government departments for funding.  The implementation of projects is monitored for another 12 months.

Where necessary, community forums can be hosted to support the implementation of a project in a specific area.  The purpose of the development forums is to bring role-players from different sectors together on the same issue or challenge, and to foster cooperation between community initiatives, government priorities and business initiatives in order to share resources.

• It supports the creativity of young community entrepreneurs and has a bottom-up approach, starting from the grassroots organisations.

• The programme proves that with even a small financial investment in projects with potential, a substantial return in terms of community mobilisation and community projects can be achieved.

• The formation of public/ private partnerships between community organisations, government and business improves cooperation and the impact of projects.

• Every successful project contributes to building social cohesion – it improves the quality of life for the members and the community involved.

“Our plans miscarry if they have no aim.  When someone does not know which harbour they are making for, no wind is the right wind.”
– Seneca (philosopher, statesman and dramatist)