At the OTT Conference 2025 in Johannesburg, the Governance Action Hub, New South Institute, and On Think Tanks convened a pivotal session on an urgent governance challenge: State Capture—Moving from Analysis to Strategies and Action. This conversation moved beyond diagnosing corruption to confronting the systemic takeover of public institutions for private gain.

Collaboration with government sounds good – but does it really deliver results for marginalized communities? In this second blog, Brendan Halloran unpacks the lessons, risks, and tensions that come with collaborative approaches to accountability. Drawing from Asivikelane’s multi-year journey, the paper explores what it takes to balance relationship-building with independence, and how to avoid fragmented responses. For civic actors working in tough governance environments, this is a candid look at what works, what doesn’t, and why adaptation matters.

How do you shift a system stuck in cycles of exclusion and unresponsiveness? This first blog in a two-part series by Brendan Halloran introduces Asivikelane, a South African civic initiative that began during COVID-19 and has since evolved into a powerful platform for collaborative governance. Learn how informal settlement residents, especially women, gathered evidence, built relationships with government, and helped unlock thousands of service delivery improvements.