Community & Individual Development Association
foundation
The Community & Individual Development Association (CIDA or COMMUNITY) is a non-profit, educational development organisation that was founded in 1979 and is located in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Description
CIDA was formed in 2000 to provide disadvantaged students with an almost cost-free, university education. The foundation describes itself as an organisation that facilitates projects that provide large-scale, low-cost, education for the disadvantaged. The university was founded in part by funding from the Educating Africa foundation. After each project is established, it has the option to become independent or continue under the umbrella of CIDA . CIDA was considered by some to be the "poster child" for the Free Tertiary Education movement in South Africa. Its contributors include local companies as well as JP Morgan and Dell.
History and projects
CIDA's projects include: Soweto Craft and Self-Development Centre (1979), Crossroads Self-Development Centre (1980), Sagewood School (1985), training for 10,000 teachers and students in Qwa Qwa (1985), Soweto Self-Learning Centre (1993), training for 200 Peace Corp workers (1994), training for 400 teachers in Kwazulu-Natal (1996), training for 9,000 teachers and students in Alexandra and establishment of the Community Individual Development Trust (2005). The Branson School of Entrepreneurship was established in 2006 and was named after its contributor Richard Branson. In 2007 Taddy Blecher, the CEO of CIDA, received a $1 million dollar award from the Skoll Foundation.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Community & Individual Development Association” is foundation. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Community, Individual and Development, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “foundation” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1023709. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1979, 2000, 1980 and 1985.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Community & Individual Development Association”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Community & Individual Development Association primary sources, Community & Individual Development Association archive and Community research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Community & Individual Development Association”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Community & Individual Development Association” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.