It was founded in March 1992 to coordinate among existing civic organisations, which had been central in the latter phases of the struggle against apartheid.
[2] In practice, affiliate organisations retained a great deal of autonomy.
[3] Primarily aligned to the African National Congress (ANC), SANCO played a high profile role in Track II initiatives during the negotiations to end apartheid, particularly with respect to the transformation of local government in South Africa.
[3] Although relations with the ANC were sometimes strained,[4] the two organisations were close enough that until 2002 SANCO was commonly referred to as the "plus one" of the ANC's Tripartite Alliance,[5] a term later avoided because civic activists felt it devalued SANCO.
[7] In 2020, a breakaway group was formed under the name Independent South African National Civic Organisation (ISANCO);[8] it held its inaugural conference in 2021[8][9] and contested as a registered political party in the 2021 municipal elections.