Grantees
Our grants support organizations committed to non-sexist, non-racial, democratic practices. While this reflects a small portion of all that needs to be done, your support makes these projects possible.
At this time SADF is not accepting unsolicited proposals.
Advocacy
Section 27
Johannesburg, South Africa
SECTION27 is a public interest law center that seeks to achieve substantive equality and social justice in South Africa. Guided by the principles and values in the Constitution, SECTION27 uses law, advocacy, legal literacy, research and community mobilization to achieve access to healthcare services and basic education. SECTION27 aims to achieve structural change and accountability to ensure the dignity and equality of everyone.
Justice
Social Justice Coalition
Khayelitsha, South Africa
The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) is a grassroots movement campaigning for safety and dignity in some of the most underdeveloped and dangerous townships. Eighteen years after democracy, the lack of proper sanitation and safety remains a major issue in these communities. With sustained pressure on the government by SJC, there have been significant improvements to broken toilets and sewage overflows as well as a Commission of Inquiry into the policiing in the Western Cape.
Health
Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)
Johannesburg, South Africa
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) gained an international reputation by campaigning against the high prices of drug companies and challenging AIDS denialism. After many successes including two-million South Africans now on treatment, TAC continues to play a national role in policy development, monitoring of government health services, educating communities and advocating for people with HIV/AIDS and TB. SADF's grant supports TAC's publication of the advocacy tool Spotlight monitoring South Africa's response to HIV and TB www.spotlightnsp.co.za
Journalism
GroundUp
Cape Town, South Africa
GroundUp publishes news that matters. The publication reports human rights stories across South Africa. Their journalists won the prestigious 2021 Nat Nakasa Community Award. South Africa’s Constitution gives people the rights to housing, education, health, safety, a decent environment, justice, food, and dignity. GroundUp stories show what these rights mean in daily life. GroundUp is a non-profit news agency. They rely on donations to do their work and don’t run ads and all articles are always free to read.
Art & Learning
Artist Proof Studio (APS)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Artist Proof Studio (APS) is a community-based printmaking center that provides a creative space for budding artists who develop and hone their skills; urban and rural students who strive to be agents of change of South Africa’s most pressing social issues learn to master them here. SADF supported APS’s advocacy unit to carry out a visual arts campaign to promote reproductive health and HIV prevention.
Community Empowerment
Ntinga Ntaba kaNdoda
Keiskammahoek, South Africa
A community catalyst project to promote community self-determination in Keiskammahoek South, Eastern Cape. civic engagement. The program works to mentor youth with the aim of achieving socio-economic change through local economic alternatives and the realization of constitutional rights. Ntingani Loocha was started in 2011 and is a holistic intervention that combines the development of rural youth as agents and leaders of socio-economic change, grassroots activism and
Rights
Ndifuna Ukwazi
Cape Town, South Africa
Ndifuna Ukwazi (Dare to Know) educates and mentors future young adult leaders to foster active citizenship in South Africa. Ndifuna's fellows' program focuses on the intersection of socioeconomic, constitutional and international human rights. The organization aims to provide legal and research support for social justice organizations in South Africa.
Environment
groundWork
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
GroundWork is South Africa's largest and most respected environmental justice watchdog and advocacy group. The organization connects environmental conditions to health, poverty and human rights and effectively links research and advocacy to policy goals. SADF’s grant covered groundWorks’s role in organizing an international coalition to address climate change, energy access and funding of fossil fuels by international banks.
Housing & Land
Abahlali baseMjondolo
Durban, South Africa
Policies that address the lives of poor South Africans will occur only when poor people have a strong, organized voice in society. Nowhere is this philosophy more evident than in Abahlali baseMjondolo, the largest social movement in the country. This internationally-known coalition of shack dwellers in the Durban area vigorously campaigns for rights to land, public services and freedom from illegal evictions.
Music Education
Khayelitsha Music Academy
Khayelitsha, South Africa,
The Academy supports youth with early childhood music education. Volunteer local musicians teach after-school music lessons to area children and youth. Students form choirs, bands, and groups; many graduate into professional programs and competitions. The Khayelitsha Music Academy takes part in community-building efforts in order to encourage local arts commerce and learning in the townships that are otherwise not accessible.
Education
Equal Education
Khayelitsha, South Africa
Equal Education has become a significant social movement that engages learners, educators and social activists to addresses some of the major issues in public education - specifically conditions that contribute to poor pass rates and low levels of literacy in township schools. Significant campaigns have included standardizing school infrastructures and establish libraries in all schools.
Art & Income Generation
Mapusha Weaving Cooperative
Acornhoek, South Africa
Mapusha Weavers is a nonprofit enterprise of women weavers and spinners who demonstrate their mastery of weaving with carpets and tapestries of hand-spun and hand-dyed Karakul wool. The cooperative sells the beautiful textiles to support their families. They also work to help their neighbors who are unemployed or suffering with poverty through economic empowerment, education, and nutrition.
Children
CHOSA
Cape Town, South Africa
CHOSA seeks to make a difference in the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children. CHOSA partners with a range of community-based initiatives providing early childhood education at free and low-cost preschools in some of Cape Town’s poorest areas, as well as housing, food, education, and medical care for orphaned and foster children in residential care.