Civil society engagement with local government: Yeoville Bellevue Civic Movement
Presenter: Nomsa Mbatha
Discussant: Faranani Gethe
Date: 18 June 2026
Time: 1-3pm
Register for in-person attendance here, and online here
Nomsa Mbatha is a community activist and the co-founder of the Yeoville Bellevue Civic Movement.
Faranani Gethe is a Built Environment Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand whose research focuses on sustainable cities and infrastructure investment. He brings extensive experience from several years in local government & private sectors within the built environment.
Abstract:
The Yeoville Bellevue Civic Movement is a civic community group that embraces all those who stay in Yeoville and Bellevue East. It was founded in 2024 in response to the unfair power outages and load rotation affecting Yeoville and Bellevue. The movement has since expanded to create awareness on service delivery issues affecting the area, inform and give updates on challenges and assist the community on emergency situations. Over the years, it has interacted with local authorities and other movements in the city to advance equitable services and to respond to inadequate services in the city. It rejects racism, xenophobia, sexism and gender-based violence.
About the series:
Building on our previous seminar series which offered scholars, researchers and activists a space to share their ongoing work, either by discussing work in progress or presenting upcoming and new publications on the City of Johannesburg, the next series turns the focus to the work and experiences of civil society organisations. As Johannesburg continues to face intersecting crises of governance, service delivery and urban inequality, civil society organisations play a pivotal role in keeping local government accountable – and in promoting innovative ways to respond to urban crisis.
In 2026, civil society organisations will lead the conversation, presenting their experiences, strategies and challenges in navigating urban crisis in Johannesburg. This is particularly important as we move towards local government elections towards the end of the year.
