On Thursday, 3 October 2024, SERI's Thato Masiangoako participated in a seminar exploring participatory democracy entitled, "Igniting Community Voices in Local Government", hosted by PlanAct. The seminar was the first in a series of three, all of which aim to explore the concept of participatory democracy in greater detail. It was held at PlanAct's offices in a hybrid format, bringing together approximately 30 participants.
Thato spoke alongside Prof Heidi Brooks (Wits School of Governance), Prof Joleen Kotze (Human Sciences Research Council), and Mmabatho Mongae (Good Governance Africa) who all presented on different aspects of public participation, the nature of the relationship between communities and local government, and its impact on meaningful and effective public participation.
Thato's presentation reflected on the experience of the Slovo Park informal settlement with public participation as part of their efforts to get their informal settlement developed as part of the Upgrading of Informal Settlement Programme (UISP). Thato provided an overview of the UISP aims to achieve and requires in terms of participation; a brief account of Slovo Park's history and the role of the Slovo Park Community Development Forum in advocating on behalf of Slovo Park residents for a more meaningful form of public participation in the government process that would affect their community.