The Social Change Assistance Trust (SCAT) is a South African non-profit advocacy organisation established in 1984 to advocate for human rights and social justice philanthropy. SCAT focuses its projects in the rural areas of four South African provinces. The Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, and the Free State. It focuses on projects that are community centred and community driven with a primarily focuses on projects that tackle inequality and injustice. SCAT's primary function is as a grant making organisation that also provides capacity building and conducts project assessments of supported projects in rural areas.

History

SCAT was established by

Barry Streek Barry Streek (30 August 1948 – 21 July 2006) was a South African political journalist and anti-apartheid activist. Early life and education Barry Streek was educated at Michaelhouse in Kwazulu-Natal after which he completed his national servi ...

, Gordon Young and Di Oliver in 1984 to help provide resources to poor rural communities that have been their right since the establishment of democracy in South Africa in 1994. Initial funding for the organisation came from the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

. SACT played an important role in the establishment of the Cape Town based civil society center

Community House A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

in the mid-1980s.

Activities

As of 2006 the organisation worked with 58 rural partners. In 2005 the organisation experienced a short fall in funding due to declining commitments from established donors and inadequate fund raising capabilities. This required the organisation to change its method of operation. This led the organisation to start scaling down operations, reduce administration staff, and balance budgets to rely on committed income streams. Between 1984 and 2014 SCAT reportedly supported 515 Local Development Agencies.

References

{{reflist Organizations established in 1984 Rural development in Africa Social movements in South Africa Church of Norway Non-profit organisations based in South Africa Social welfare charities Community-building organizations Poverty-related organizations Organisations based in Cape Town