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), bringing together 25 young leaders and activists from four universities in the Eastern Cape: University of Fort Hare, Nelson Mandela University, IYunivesithi Walter Sisulu and Rhodes University.

Under the theme “Beyond protest, towards power. Will you lead the shift?”, the 2026 school invited a new generation of young activists to think critically about power, political ideas and the possibilities for transformative change in South Africa.

The Fort Hare Activist School was established in recognition of the growing gap between the South Africa imagined by generations of activists and the realities confronting society today. Three decades into democracy, persistent inequality, unemployment, exclusion and political disillusionment raise fundamental questions about the country's democratic project and the possibilities for a more just society.

FHAS creates a space for young leaders to grapple with these questions while locating contemporary demands for change within South Africa’s longer history of struggles against oppression and domination.

The school brings together young activists, academics, decision-makers and practitioners to explore South Africa’s political system, policy choices and alternative pathways out of the country’s multiple crises. At its centre is a fundamental question:

What will it take to attain freedom, justice and equality in a society as unequal and unjust as South Africa?

The 2026 programme challenges participants to move beyond understanding protest as an end in itself and to consider how collective action can translate into sustained political agency and power.

Through political discussions, creative methodologies, small-group work, political games and practical tasks, participants engage with questions of ideology, democracy, feminism, political economy, organising and leadership. An intersectional lens encourages participants to examine the interconnected forms of oppression shaped by race, class, gender, sexuality and ability.

FHAS also emphasises agency and action. Participants are challenged to work collectively on projects that respond to challenges explored throughout the curriculum, putting ideas into practice and demonstrating that social change requires organised participation.

The 2026 cohort represents the continuing commitment of FES South Africa and its university partners to creating spaces where young people can develop the political imagination, knowledge and collective agency needed to shape South Africa’s future.

Meet the 2026 Fort Hare Activist School cohort as they take the next step: beyond protest, towards power.