Five Years of Equality Collective: A Journey of Determination, Growth, and Deep Commitment

By Founder and Director, Tess Nolizwe Peacock

Equality Collective Organisational Video

Five years ago, the Equality Collective was little more than an idea. I remember our very first board meeting in 2019, before we were even registered, when we had virtually no money in the bank—just a small seed grant from the Atlantic Fellowship for Racial Equity (AFRE). Our board members shared room at the Bulungula Lodge, and we spent two days trying to map out the vision for this rural justice organisation that was an urgent response to the lived realities of rural communities facing deeply entrenched poverty and inequality, with little direct access to justice or organisational support.

Fast forward five years, the Equality Collective is an R8 million organisation with a tangible track record of impact across three core areas: early childhood development (ECD), water and basic services, and access to justice. The journey has been tough and gruelling—founding and growing an organisation is always hard, but doing so in a deeply rural context, with all the complexities and problem-solving that come with that, has been particularly demanding. And yet, it has also been the most rewarding, beautiful, and affirming work of my life.

Our early years were shaped by uncertainty, experimentation, and an unwavering belief in the potential of grassroots power. When our core startup team—Tshepo, Zoe, Tino, and Noluvo—came on board in early 2022, we all remember sitting on the floor of the chill area at the Bulungula Lodge, shaking hands and acknowledging that this was our startup. That moment of collective investment in the vision of the Equality Collective was one of the most beautiful and humbling experiences of this journey. Since then, I have watched these incredible young professionals grow into thoughtful, dedicated leaders who drive this work forward with intelligence, passion, and deep care.

And what a journey it has been. We started during COVID, which brought its own set of complexities. We initially planned to be a hybrid organisation—Zoe and Tshepo were in Johannesburg, Tino in Mthatha, and Noluvo and I were the only ones based in Nqileni—but something extraordinary happened. Zoe, Tshepo and Tino, decided to move to the village, making a deep commitment to the ideal of being an embedded community organisation. The principle was simple: if our community doesn’t have water, neither do we. This philosophy of shared experience and long-term relationship-building became the foundation of our work.

In 2024, we made a shift towards long-term sustainability, bringing in two senior managers, Alana and Sibonelo, as well as Sinovuyo as our Admin and Finance Clerk. Their leadership and expertise have been instrumental in building an organisation that is resilient, less reliant on me as a founder, and positioned for long-term impact.

Building a Different Kind of Organisation

From the beginning, we wanted to do things differently. Rather than working in isolation on single-issue focus areas, we asked how the law could be used as a strategic tool to fight poverty and inequality in holistic ways—whether that meant advocating for roads, electricity, water, ECD or stronger governance structures. And so, our model of community-lawyering was born. Our work became about long-term capacity-building, active citizenry, and strengthening grassroots advocacy.

We also knew we wanted to engage constructively with government where possible, finding ways to problem-solve rather than just oppose, to provide clear solutions rather than simply highlight failures. This was no easy task in a context of systemic collapse, but we committed to the long work of relationship-building, augmenting capacity where we could, and standing firm when necessary.

And we’ve seen the results. Five years ago, our community's engagement with the municipality on water issues was chaotic—WhatsApp groups filled with frustration, anger, and disengagement. Today, those same conversations are informed, strategic, and solutions-driven. That shift toward active, confident, and engaged citizenry is at the heart of what we have built.

What now sets us apart as a social justice and advocacy organisation is that we sit at the nexus of grassroots organising and national policy influence. It is unique for an organisation to be able to do both.

The Wins Along the Way

There have been so many moments of pride over the years:

1. Right to Early Childhood Development

Real Reform for ECD: Co-founded Real Reform for ECD—a national movement of over 300 organisations and 1,000 ECD practitioners—of which we serve as the activist secretariat, providing the movement with backbone support.
Children’s Amendment Bill: In 2020, Real Reform for ECD galvanised over 1,600 submissions to Parliament, which helped result in the rejection of regressive and confusing ECD provisions in the Children’s Amendment Bill and the publication, in 2024, of a vastly improved and revised Bill.
Local Government: Engaged in local government advocacy across eight municipalities to ensure ECD planning, funding, and infrastructure are prioritised. We have helped to set up technical task teams in three municipalities, including Breede Valley, where we are helping the municipality draft its ECD policy.
Right to ECD: Currently, leading evidence-informed advocacy for the recognition of a right to ECD and a new standalone ECD Act, which will define the state’s responsibility to provide, fund, and support universal access to ECD.

2. Right to Water

Amanzi Kumntu Wonke: Created Amanzi Kumntu Wonke (Water for All), a community-led monitoring system tracking daily water supply across 32 reservoirs of the Mncwasa Water Scheme in Amathole District Municipality.
Constructive Advocacy: Secured R31.5 million in government funding to refurbish the scheme’s failing infrastructure serving over 30,000 people. In January 2025 the scheme reservoirs, on average, had water for 91% of the month, up from 41% in August 2022
Accountable Governance: Mobilised local leaders, traditional authorities, and communities to hold Amathole District Municipality accountable for service delivery failures.
Expansion: Currently, expanding this work to two new water schemes in Amathole District Municipality.

3. Access to Justice and Governance Accountability

Paralegal Services: Running a walk-in clinic, providing free paralegal assistance to hundreds of rural residents annually.
Policy Advocacy: Engaged in policy advocacy and litigation, including submissions to Parliament on public service and water governance reforms.
Accountable Governance: Successfully campaigned against the reappointment of an unqualified municipal manager and the appointment of a Chief Financial Officer out on bail for corruption.
Community Safety: In response to a rise in violent crime in our region, advocating for stronger community safety and violence prevention, running GBV workshops, establishing community policing forums, and supporting local action for better police responsiveness.

Centring Values, Centring People

At the core of everything we do is our people, our values, and our way of working. This is something we have been deeply intentional about—how do we build an organisation that is not just effective but also human, kind, and sustainable? How do we recognise the personal, collective, systemic, historical, and generational trauma that shapes the world we work in?

Throughout these five years, we have built an organisational culture that centres:

Autonomy: We enable self-management, co-creation, and flexibility, trusting our team to take initiative.
Accountability: We commit to taking responsibility, clear communication, and growth through regular feedback.
Love: Respect, kindness, and care shape our work, fostering strong connections within our team, community, and partners.
Excellence: We strive for professional execution, innovation, and organisational competence through evidence-based practices.
Collaboration: We prioritise co-creation, constructive advocacy, and coalition-building over competition.
Substantive Equality: We actively tackle inequality through inclusive, community-centred activism, ensuring diverse representation in our work and partnerships.

Looking Forward

As we celebrate five years, I am overwhelmed with gratitude—for every person who has been part of this journey, for the resilience and brilliance of our team, for the community members who trust us, challenge us, and co-create with us, to our councillors, traditional leaders, board members, funders and partners for their support and for the vision that continues to drive us forward.

The work ahead is still daunting. But if these five years have shown us anything, it’s that building an organisation rooted in deep commitment, care, and collective power is possible. That grassroots-led, long-term, systems-changing work is possible. That fighting for justice in a way that is human, sustainable, and full of love is possible.

And that’s what we will continue to do.

Happy fifth birthday to the Equality Collective. Here’s to the next five years of courage, care, and impact.

The Equality Collective is an activist and community lawyering organisation based in the Mbhashe Municipality in the rural Eastern Cape - one of the most remote and poorest areas of South Africa. We build and network power in support of advocacy campaigns for greater socio-economic equity that are based on extensive research and expert analysis.