DDP: Giving democracy a louder voice
South Africa’s Democracy Development Program (DDP) builds bridges between communities and government - now with the help of a Plone-powered web portal.
Background
The Democracy Development Program (DDP) is a South African non-profit that strengthens democracy by promoting active citizenship, dialogue, and accountable leadership. Working with civil society, youth, local municipalities, and political institutions, DDP fosters spaces for inclusive discussion and problem-solving.
Visit the site at ddp.org.za
Why Plone?
DDP’s new website was built using Plone 6 with a Volto front end. Plone was chosen because it offers:
Editor-first design: DDP’s team now has full control over their pages using Plone’s block-based editor
Structured, reusable content: News, resources, events, and stories can be reused across the site with minimal duplication
Flexible content rules: Automated workflows allow content to surface in the right places—without extra admin
Long-term sustainability: With no licensing fees and an active open source community, Plone was a future-minded choice
Accessibility and multilingual readiness: Important for a programme engaging with diverse South African audiences
Project goals
DDP’s previous website had become outdated and difficult to manage. They needed:
A platform that reflects their role in democratic development
Easy publishing tools for programme teams
A clear structure that supports storytelling and content reuse
A future-proof and secure foundation, without vendor lock-in
Project highlights
Media management: Editors can easily add and reuse images, reports, and videos across pages
Custom storytelling blocks: A flexible Hero block helps teams spotlight key messages or calls to action
Improved site structure: Programmes and themes now provide a clearer path for exploration, with tagging used to connect related content
Responsive and mobile-friendly: Designed to work seamlessly on all devices
Outcomes
Since launching the new site, DDP has:
Increased its ability to publish timely content and showcase event reports
Empowered more team members to take part in content creation
Created clearer entry points for stakeholders, funders, and community partners
Reduced long-term dependency on developers for everyday updates
Provider: Juizi, South Africa
The site was developed by Juizi, a South African web company with over 15 years’ experience building content-rich, editor-friendly websites for non-profits, research organisations, and membership-based institutions. Juizi's work focuses on helping organisations structure content in a way that supports long-term growth and editorial independence.
Juizi is very involved in the Plone community. Employees contribute to open source projects, speak regularly at international Plone Conferences and World Plone Day, and serve as Plone Foundation members, and serve on Plone teams.