Shumani came to Planact in 2003, fresh from the rural towns of Limpopo. Her personal life experience prompted her to learn more about local government and her love of working with communities shines through in her contributions to this history, keeping it honest to the realities of community experience. She is a development activist who believes in democratic and social citizenship and who is not afraid to speak truth to power.

Mike joined Planact in 1999. His CV deserves a history of its own, reflecting in many ways the best of Planact and South Africa. At 19 he raised R3 million to build a multi-purpose centre in Tembisa, before being flown to New York City on an exchange programme. Fortunately for all of us, Mike returned and continued to build a career here, incorporating voter education, rights and housing. Mike brought texture and life to some of the most moving and informative examples in this history: Muldersdrift Home Trust Foundation, PHP Vosloorus and Tamboville

Jackie has thirty years’ association with Planact, starting as an employee in 1995. Today, as a public policy practitioner, Jackie is a Planact board member. Jackie is a public policy practitioner with long experience of working with underserved and vulnerable communities and enabling community voices in government platforms. Jackie has asked fearless and probing questions throughout this project, both in terms of content and context and has provided access to invaluable institutional memory.

Chelsea has driven the crucial communications strategy underlying this history. She joined Planact in April 2016, taking responsibility for coordinating communication and resources, branding, and stakeholder engagement, as well as advocacy campaigns for Planact’s programmes. Chelsea is qualified in development communications as well as local government public law and, like many of her colleagues is constantly studying. This history is designed to prompt reflection and dialogue on South Africa’s history and future and those outcomes are dependent on and deeply entwined with communications. You are reading this bio because Chelsea’s communications have ensured that this rich history has reached its audience!

Tamzin has been in the Operations Manager of Planact since 2023. Her expertise lies in land reform and tenure practices as well as informal settlement upgrading processes. Tamzin has been an essential voice during the compilation of this history, with her commitment to prioritising community voices and to deepening and expanding democratic processes in Southern Africa.

Roland joined Planact immediately after his release as a political prisoner. During his tenure, between 1989 and 1993, Planact grew from 9 staff to 42. Roland has gained deep experience of public finance and management, holding senior executive leadership positions in different spheres of government in South Africa. He has brought his personal experience of the early years at Planact, his sharp insight on local government policy and strategy, as well as a deep knowledge of financial and institutional governance issues, to this history. He generously shared his perspectives about both Planact and the environment in which it works.

Andrew became Planact’s 5th employee in 1989. He is an international expert on economic and urban development and partnering for systems change, who has worked in the development sector for more than 41 years. He has over five decades of experience in South Africa’s political, local government, urban, economic, and sustainability change processes. He has held senior executive posts in national government as well as serving as Cape Town’s city manager from 1997 to 2001. While making significant contributions to the local government statutory framework, he has established and led three collaborative intermediary organisations: the South African Cities Network (SACN), the Cape Town Partnership (CTP), and the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership (EDP). Andrew’s knowledge of both Planact and the shifting context over the decades has been core to this history project.

Emma is the Executive Director of Fixed.Africa and a consultant on complex social issues related to local development and gender equity. Emma was tasked with designing, writing and compiling this forty year celebratory history of Planact. As the project lead and editor, Emma has applied her research skills, her belief in partnership and collaboration and her commitment to a better South Africa to the wealth of information and materials surfaced in this project.

Tumi has been an intern at Planact since 2024 and has worked as a research assistant to Fixed on this history, building her own knowledge and skill as a researcher and her institutional knowledge of Planact and the history of local government and community in South Africa. Tumi has spent hours and hours in the formal and informal archives of Planact, embellishing the examples with texture and detail that bring the history to life.