ii. FOREWORD BY THE FOCAL POINT As South Africa’s Focal point and the Chairperson of the National Governing Council of the African Peer Review Mechanism, I hereby confirm that the APRM programme is more vibrant now than it was at the time of accession. Structures of the APRM meet regularly to deal with issues as per the programme. Community meetings organised around the programme of the APRM are still attended by large numbers of people, confirming that they still embrace the instrument. This takes place within the context of our vibrant democracy that cuts across to Government structures, Business Sector and general organs of civil society. We are working hard to do things differently to ensure an improvement in the participation of civil society in general, particularly from the point of view of resource provision, as, without a dedicated budget to support the activities of civil society formations, they experience some challenges. The government continues to work tireless to assist civil society organizations with resource mobilisation.. In the process of developing this report, we held consultative conferences in the nine Provinces of the country. These provided an opportunity for all the sectors of the APRM processes to input into the report. We then organised a National Consultative Forum wherein we consolidated all the views drawn into writing this report. This report is therefore a product of engagements by South Africans, drawn from their own experiences. South Africa therefore submits this report against the APRM thematic areas to the effect that; o Democracy and political governance continue to find expression of stability in the manner in which the country implements its constitutional obligations for good governance, o Economic governance and management yield favourable conditions for economic growth that create an environment of equal opportunities and participation by all its citizens, 5