The two-day Limpopo Provincial ECD Multi-Stakeholder Indaba, organised in partnership with the Limpopo Department of Education and Save the Children South Africa, brought together government departments, municipalities, practitioners, traditional leaders, communities, parents, civil society, donors and private-sector partners. The Indaba focused on a practical question: what will it take to reach more children in Limpopo […]

As Women’s Month draws to a close, there is a familiar temptation to celebrate women’s resilience and achievements. All of those things are worth recognising; however, recognition on its own does very little to change the conditions under which women live and work. This is particularly true in the care economy where so much of the essential work women do remains poorly recognised […]

SmartStart brought together its national network and the wider early childhood development (ECD) ecosystem for its inaugural Constellations of Change gathering in Johannesburg. The two-day event explored how stronger partnerships can help make quality early learning accessible to every child by 2030. The gathering brought together implementing partners, programme leads, club coaches, call-centre agents, frontline […]

What does it take to ensure that every child in South Africa has access to quality early learning? The answer cannot be found in one programme, organisation, or solution. It lies in the connections between the many people and parts of the early childhood development ecosystem – from families and practitioners to government, funders, researchers, […]

SmartStart’s work is rooted in a simple but powerful belief: every child deserves access to quality early learning from the start. In a recent feature with Business Minds Media, CEO Grace Matlhape shares more about the SmartStart’s vision, the importance of early learning in South Africa, and the role the organisation plays in helping to build […]

In October 2025, SmartStart, the Department of Basic Education, Ilifa Labantwana, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and ECDAN convened a two-day Early Childhood and Care Systems Mapping Workshop with practitioners, parents, government officials, civil society organisations, funders, academics and international partners to examine how South Africa’s ECCE system works in practice, and what it will take […]