Home

Knowledge is Power, but
Understanding is Everything

Knowledge is Power, but
Understanding is Everything

Knowledge is Power, but
Understanding is Everything

Knowledge is Power, but Understanding is Everything

Years

Clients

Projects

Respondents

Communities.

The building blocks of society.

We all live in communities, no matter how we define them. Whether by age, geography, gender, economic status, the list is almost endless. Every community is bound together by common interests, by shared ambitions and experiences.

Similarly, every community wants to grow healthier, often in the face of serious deprivation and neglect.

Strategies aiming to address these issues often flounder on a lack of appropriate information and understanding of the real forces at play. This is what Social Surveys was established 36 years ago to tackle – a deeper understanding of community dynamics as a foundation for effective social strategies.

Social Surveys Africa

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER BUT UNDERSTANDING IS EVERYTHING

Established in 1987

Over 0 Years

of innovation in social research and policy

Community Tapestry

Unrest Scale

Social Cohesion & Social Licence to Operate

Mobility Model

Social issues in Mining

Early Grade Learner Assessments

Strategy & Research Services

Monitoring and Evaluation

Community Engagement

Some of our current projects

Zenex senior phase 2022

Using a mixed methods approach, SSA is evaluating four pilot programmes funded by the Zenex Foundation to address the backlog in reading for understanding amongst senior phase learners in Western Cape, KZN, Gauteng and Eastern Cape.

Nali’bali

A a nationally representative survey to enable literacy organisations, government and civil society to gain timely, accurate feedback and comparative data on changes in specific aspects of South Africa’s reading culture, as well as helping improve sector best practices.

Sasol csi social return on investment and ikusasa impact evaluation

Measuring the social impact and social return on investment of SASOL’s portfolio of CSI projects

Glencore

A conflict sensitivity analysis study across all Glencore Alloys Southern African Operations to assist with stakeholder mapping, stakeholder engagement strategy and stakeholder communication strategy of the mine with their surrounding communities.

Sedibelo Platinum Mine

A gender equity sensitivity study to assist Sedibelo in making a strategic decision on the future employment of the women workforce. The study explored issues and challenges currently faced by female employees in the mine to address key obstacles which hamper the growth of women currently employed and the recruitment of new staff.

Department of basic Education

This large-scale impact evaluation assesses the relative impact and scalability of different teacher coaching models on improving early-grade reading outcomes. The study is located in 140 schools in the Northwest Province.

DUT

Providing technical support to the DUT Vice-Chancellor and SPWG in designing and operationalising the strategy tracking tool and process for the University’s long-term ENVISION2030 strategy.

DGRV

Conducting a baseline study of the co-operative sector in South Africa in KwaZulu Natal, Eastern Cape and Gauteng. This project contributes to the knowledge base for the cooperative sector as a whole and assists in providing information to strengthen co-operative structures and business cycles.

SAPPI

A mixed methods approach impact assessment of 3 of Sappi’s Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programmes; namely the Khulisa (forestry), Skills Centre and Early Childhood Development programmes. The evaluation will determine the contribution that SAPPI’s CSI programmes have made to programme participants and the indirect benefits to communities as well as the participant and community sentiment towards the programmes

Meghna Ranganathan

Assistant Professor, Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

"Social Surveys Africa were a pleasure to work with: collaborative in their approach, professional in all their undertakings, flexible in the face of ambiguity, skilled at managing stakeholder partnerships and timely in meeting deadlines."

Andile Sangqu

Executive Head, Anglo American

"Social Surveys Africa has a long-standing relationship with Anglo American and has conducted a range of large social research studies for us over the past twenty years… In addition to designing the study and collecting the data, Social Surveys analysed the strategic implications of the empirical materials for AAP’s policies affecting both migrant and local employees, including policies on housing, transport, indebtedness, health care, employee communication and other related fields. These strategic implications are now being presented to and debated by all levels of management within Anglo American as they impact on our business across sectors."

Paul Graham

Director, Freedom House South Africa

"The survey sites are all highly volatile and frequently violent communities. The first round of field work was completed in the three weeks before the local government elections, a particularly sensitive time. Social Surveys was able to design and manage the field work process, including community entry and data collection, in a way which navigated this complex environment."

Amanda Jitsing

Director: Public Economics & Monitoring and Evaluation, DNA Economics

"What differentiates Social Surveys Africa from many of their competitors is their commitment to ensuring the quality and completeness of data collected, even in challenging situations or contexts. Social Surveys combines expertise in research and instrument design with extensive field experience. We have cultivated a close working relationship with Social Surveys and would recommend them as a development and research partner"

Sheree Schwartz

Assistant Scientist, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

"I just wanted to note that we've really been impressed with the quality of the interviews and we are really excited with the richness of the data being collected."

Noel Garcin

Environmental Governance Project Manager, African Climate Reality Project

"The M&E framework Social Surveys provided us was in a highly use-friendly format, combining strong technical M&E knowledge with an appreciation for the specific institutional structure and the theory of change they developed provided us with a guideline for our future work. We greatly appreciate working with Social Surveys Africa and would recommend them for any M&E research."

Dr. Rob Moore

Executive Director, GCRO

"Social Surveys Africa's independent observer role has provided invaluable advice to all our partners in this complex project (survey of 36000 respondents with strict representative sampling criteria and an experimental, partnership-based and youth-employment-supporting implementation model), helping the team to identify underlying assumptions work with risks and bottlenecks, and manage challenging relationships."

Kevin Robertson

Head of business improvement, Gold Fields

"The experience and knowledge of Social Surveys with regards to understanding the mining industry and the accommodation challenges in the country was invaluable during the planning, design and overall survey management. South Deep appreciates the professional, independent analytical feedback that will assist in executing the housing strategy"

What our clients have to say

Only some of our amazing clients

Our Insights and Articles

Blog

Monitoring and Evaluation: A necessary tool for Social Change

With COVID-19 revealing the divides between the haves and the have-nots and continuously skyrocketing social inequality, the role played by monitoring and evaluation cannot be downplayed. At its core, monitoring and evaluation provide us with answers in terms of how we are moving towards a society that is more just and equitable. We need to track the progress we are making with the National Development Plan and Sustainable Development Goals, and monitoring and evaluation is one of our most important scientific tools to do that objectivity.

December 7, 2023

Blog

Part 1: The proliferation of intervention programmes and thinking for sustainable education intervention or En-core Issues

In response to the challenges for education in South Africa, a range of actors aim to drive change and provide interventions that can positively impact education in South Africa. Many interventions take an approach which goes against the discourses centred around the failure of

March 22, 2023

Blog

Part 2: Building a response to education- Reflections on the approach to school-based education interventions or Kaleidoscopic Chameleon Eyes

Opportunity for reflection: A concerted effort from a range of actors sees interventions and studies in the field of school-based education. This is a continuous and dialogical reflection on the general models by which the topic is approached as well as some of the

March 22, 2023

Knowledge is Power, but Understanding is Everything

Communities.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER BUT UNDERSTANDING IS EVERYTHING

Established in 1987

Community Tapestry

Unrest Scale

Social Cohesion & Social Licence to Operate

Mobility Model

Social issues in Mining

Early Grade Learner Assessments

Strategy & Research Services

Monitoring and Evaluation

Community Engagement

Unique Analysis Tools

Some of our current projects

What our clients have to say

Only some of our amazing clients

Our Insights and Articles

Monitoring and Evaluation: A necessary tool for Social Change

Part 1: The proliferation of intervention programmes and thinking for sustainable education intervention or En-core Issues

Part 2: Building a response to education- Reflections on the approach to school-based education interventions or Kaleidoscopic Chameleon Eyes

We support leaders in policy and practice make good, evidence-based decisions on the social justice and social development challenges.

Get in touch with us