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Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in South Africa

Learn more about us
A group of participants seated in a conference room during a Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung South Africa event, with participants facing one another in an open, discussion-style seating arrangement.
Odirile Seageng / Exquisite Motivity

Welcome, Ngiyanemukela, Wamkelekile, Welkom

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) South Africa collaborates with those who work for progressive renewal and transformation. For us, progressive means focusing on social justice and on agency; it means being anti-neoliberal, emancipatory, feminist, internationalist, anti-racist, decolonial.

FES in South Africa

Latest News and Events

A conference panel sits on a stage in a hotel meeting room, with speakers seated at a table and one speaker standing at a podium. The screen behind them displays the MISTRA Forum on Africa & Geopolitics and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung logos. Attendees sit at tables facing the stage.
Odirile Seageng / Exquisite Motivity
  • Internationalism and future of multilateralism
  • News
Thursday, 08.10.2026

Africa and Geopolitics: Imagining the World in 2040

What might the global order look like in 2040, and what will the changing geopolitical landscape mean for Africa? A world in transition

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  • Internationalism and future of multilateralism
  • Event
Monday, 28.09.2026

MISTRA Forum on Africa & Geopolitics

Imagining the world in 2040

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Group and Institution Banner with the 25 talented youth leaders
FES South Africa
  • Democracy and Political Culture
  • Fort Hare Autumn School
  • News
Wednesday, 16.09.2026

Fort Hare Activist School 2026: Beyond Protest, Towards Power

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) South Africa is pleased to announce the 2026 cohort of the Fort Hare Activist School (FHAS).

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Group photo of eight people standing side by side and smiling, posing indoors in front of a large step-and-repeat banner for the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), featuring an image of the Mapungubwe gold rhino.
Odirile Seageng / Exquisite Motivity
  • Event
  • News
Wednesday, 29.07.2026

Rethinking Civil Society: Building Power for Social Transformation

MISTRA–Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Roundtable | 29 July 2026 | Johannesburg

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Our Topics

Six speakers (from left: Tengo Tengela - Trade and Industrial Policy coordinator, COSATU, Susana Ruiz - Global lead on Tax Justice for Oxfam International, Isobel Frye - Senior Policy Advisor: G20 at Oxfam South Africa, Professor Jayati Ghosh - Co-chair of ICRICT and a member of the G20 Extraordinary Committee of Experts on Global Inequality, Gilad Isaacs - Executive Director, IEJ and Bodo Ellmers - Managing Director Global Policy Forum Europe) side by side on a conference stage, smiling at the camera during a G20 Social Summit side event. Each person wears a conference lanyard, with one holding a yellow hand fan and another dressed in a bright blue and green sari. Behind them is a presentation screen displaying the event title, while armchairs and small tables with water bottles frame the stage, suggesting a panel discussion on public policy or global governance.
Xara Fourie

Just and Sustainable Socio Economic Transformation

Together with its partners, FES aims to develop economic and social policy alternatives to address persisting inequalities in South Africa.

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The artwork, created by the artist Lwanda Mthengenya, shows citizens demonstrating for accountability while the country faces high unemployment and political crises.
FES South Africa I Artist: Lwanda Mthengenya

Democracy and Political Culture

The persistence of inequality, exploitation, oppression, violence, corruption and commodification of public services has caused a big credibility crisis for South Africa’s democracy.

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A speaker stands at a podium addressing an audience during a public policy panel discussion. Four panelists are seated on teal armchairs beside a coffee table with water bottles, while attendees listen from the audience. A large presentation screen displays the title, "Africa and the Thucydides Trap: Strategies for a World in Transition," and banners for the event organizers stand behind the podium, indicating a forum on international relations and Africa's role in a changing global order.
Exquisite Motivity (ExMotivity)

Internationalism and Multilateralism

The fundamental crises of our time ask for international responses. International relations are too important to be left to governments or foreign policy experts alone.

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A diverse group of around 20 young people pose together inside a museum or exhibition space with wooden floors and white walls. Some are standing while others sit on the floor, smiling and looking at the camera. Several wear event badges on lanyards. Behind them is a large black-and-white historical photograph and two portrait displays mounted on the wall, creating a sense of learning, heritage, and collective engagement.
Xara Fourie

Youth Leadership programme

Over the course of one year, 25 young leaders grapple with the challenges facing South African society and imagine alternative pathways out of SA’s crises in the Fort Hare Autumn School.

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Portrait of Lindiwe Mabuza
Lindiwe Mabuza

The Lindiwe Mabuza Space

Building Tomorrow! Opening spaces to imagine and live renewal.

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Voices

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FES

Voices

The negative effects of fake news, misinformation, and disinformation on society and democracy make people less likely to participate in public dialogue and trust progressive democratic institutions.

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FES

Opinion

The ongoing struggles for democracy and social justice rely on new ideas, new ways of doing things and new generations joining in.

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FES

Podcasts

With each podcast, we strive for authenticity, conversational dynamism, and thoughtful co-creation of networks.

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Group of five young people standing indoors in front of a mural featuring handpainted portraits, smiling and holding up small paint bottles.
FES South Africa

Renewal of political culture

What if ‘renewal’ meant going beyond cynicism and a world of pandemics and war?

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Latest Opinion

  • Voices

Young South Africans want to vote, local government keeps giving them reasons not to

South African youth have registered to vote in record numbers this year.

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FES
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  • Socio Economic
  • Democracy and Political Culture
  • Voices

You're BROKE because you can't spell A.U.S.T.E.R.I.T.Y

What is the economy, really?! Economics, despite often being presented as a neutral or natural science, is deeply social. It is shaped not only by numbers and models, but by emotions, expectations, and beliefs. Confidence, fear,...

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FES
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All Opinion

Publications

Middle powers and the case for coalition-building

Middle powers and the case for coalition-building

Perthes, Volker | Bonn : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, October 2026

Gendered impacts - blind responses

Gendered impacts - blind responses

Dommen, Caroline | Bonn : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, September 2026

the 2025 Tariff crisis and the case for gender transformative reforms

Gendered costs of the US tariff shock in South Africa's export citrus sector

Gendered costs of the US tariff shock in South Africa's export citrus sector

Naidu, Vahini ; Bagooro, Sylvester Wullo | Bonn : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, September 2026

Forging strong alliances

Forging strong alliances

Adotey Buckman, David ; Essien, Lucy Abotare ; Meissner, Kathrin | Johannesburg : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Trade Union Competence Centre for Sub-Saharan Africa, [2024]

trade unions uniting across Sub-Saharan Africa and Germany

All Publications

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FES Africa Department

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has been promoting the values of the Social Democracy in Africa for over 40 years. We work for social justice, democracy, peace and international solidarity on the continent.

FES Africa Department
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FES

FES South Africa on Youtube

Get more videos from our Youtube-Playlist on the FES Channel.

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To learn more about FES South Africa and our most recent activities follow us and like our Facebook Page.

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Anti Sexual Harassment Policy

At Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) we are guided by the core values of social democracy – freedom, justice and solidarity. In the spirit of these values, we advocate for a society that treats all people with respect and dignity.

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