Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung South Africa

27/05/2026

Workers and communities must be at the centre of South Africa’s Just Transition.

Join us live as we host the FSTP Information Session under the EU-funded SWAP project, bringing workers, communities and organisations into South Africa’s Just Transition.

🔗 Watch the livestream here: https://shorturl.at/lCUrG

Tune in, share, and be part of the conversation on a worker centred, gender just transition.

26/05/2026

📢 Call For Research Assistants | Short-Term Contract (July–December 2026)

The Sam Tambani Research Institute (SATRI) and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung South Africa (FES South Africa), co-funded by the European Union, are looking for two experienced Research Assistants to support our research and community engagement work on the Just Transition.

If you are passionate about social justice, labour rights, research, and community-centred advocacy, we encourage you to apply.

🗓️ Applications close: 8 June 2026

Find more information and apply here: https://southafrica.fes.de/about-us/vacancies.html

22/05/2026

Call for Proposals: Financial Support for Third Parties (FSTP)

Under the Strengthening Workers’ Active Participation in South Africa’s Just Transition (SWAP) project co-funded by the EU, FES South Africa and the Sam Tambani Research Institute (SATRI) are inviting applications from CBOs/NGOs in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo.

Up to 3 organisations will be selected to implement community consultation processes in coal affected areas, bringing together workers and communities to develop gender just demands and policy proposals for the Just Transition. Each selected organisation will receive funding to organise consultation workshops, mobilise participants and document outcomes.

🗓 Application window: 22 May 2026 (12:00) – 12 June 2026 (23:59)
📧 Submit applications by email to: [email protected] with the subject line: FSTP Application – [Name of Organisation]

For full eligibility criteria, geographic focus and application requirements, please see the detailed Call for Proposals: https://nextcloud.fes.de/nc/s/SLxDqMgynkbTCNk

22/05/2026

Workers and communities must be at the centre of South Africa’s Just Transition.

Next week, we will host a live-streamed FSTP Information Session under the Strengthening Workers’ Active Participation in South Africa’s Just Transition (SWAP) project co-funded by the EU, implemented by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung South Africa and the Sam Tambani Research Institute (SATRI).

The session is aimed at sharing opportunities for community based organisations to get involved in advancing a worker centred, gender just transition in the coal affected regions of Mpumalanga, Kwa-Zulu Natal, and Limpopo.

📅 Date: 27 & 28 May 2026
⏰ Time: 09:00 – 17:00

🔴 Livestream Registration Link: https://shorturl.at/lCUrG

Save the date, share within your networks, and join us online to be part of the conversation.

21/05/2026

Progressive socio-economic policies provide equal access to public goods for all.

The Fort Hare Activist School 2025 ( ) participants unpacked the politics of gender budgeting, fiscal and monetary policy, and the realities shaping South Africa’s national budget process. From understanding the role of Treasury, Parliament, NEDLAC, and the Reserve Bank, to debating austerity, public investment, taxation, and economic inclusion. The session highlighted how budgeting is never neutral, but it reflects political choices that shape people’s daily lives.

Discussions explored the impact of austerity on public services and employment, the role of state-owned enterprises, and the urgent need for a more inclusive economic system that prioritises social justice, investment, and redistribution. The discussion focused on how political negotiations shape the national budget and the impact of fiscal and monetary policy on inequality. Including the importance of public participation and parliamentary oversight, and the need for transformative economic policies that advance social justice and economic inclusion.

Understanding the budget is essential to building democratic accountability and economic justice.✊

📢 Reminder: Applications for the Fort Hare Activist School (FHAS) 2026 cohort are still open until 31 May 2026.

Don’t miss the opportunity to join progressive young leaders.

Apply today!

Find more information here 👉: https://southafrica.fes.de/event/fort-hare-activist-school-call-for-application-2026.html

21/05/2026

19/05/2026

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, platform work is transforming labour markets, creating new income opportunities, but also new forms of worker insecurity. Zambia is no exception.

From transport and delivery to e-commerce and freelance services, platform workers now play a critical role in sustaining the digital economy. Yet many continue to face unstable earnings, long working hours, weak social protection, and limited labour rights.

The future of work cannot be built on innovation alone. It must also be built on fairness, accountability, and dignity.

Platform workers are central to economic growth and urban service delivery. Their contribution must be matched by stronger protections, representation, and policy reform.

Tiyende Pamodzi. 🤝

18/05/2026

Economic policies should be preceded by evidence-based analysis and understanding of the impact on different groups of people.

The REFA Regional Convening brought together chapters from Eastern Cape universities and UCT to pilot a new approach to Public Economics Education grounded in South Africa’s socioeconomic realities and students’ lived experiences.

The convening created space for students to refine learning tools, strengthen facilitation skills, and share experiences on student-led curriculum reform and activist economics practice. Through participatory learning methods, students reflected on how economics education can be engaging, accessible, critical, and grounded in collective learning without compromising on rigour.

The convening closed with a shared commitment to strengthen facilitation, knowledge sharing, and sustained organising within REFA chapters into 2026 and beyond.

12/05/2026

“At the heart of feminist organising is the struggle for dignity, equality, and collective power.”✊

The Congress of South Africa Trade Unions - Cosatu Today (COSATU) Feminist School, in collaboration with the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (NADELI), Labour Research Service (LRS), and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung South Africa (FES SA), brought together women leaders and trade union activists to reflect, debate, grapple, and collectively strategise on the realities facing working-class women.

Participants explored how systems of patriarchy, capitalism, and racism shape women’s experiences in the workplace, within unions, and in society, while highlighting the importance of feminist leadership, care work, collective organising, and intergenerational solidarity in advancing gender and social justice.

They also reflected on the continued importance of creating safe feminist spaces within the labour movement spaces that enable women to organise, build solidarity, and challenge systems of exclusion and inequality.

The Feminist School reaffirmed that advancing gender justice requires sustained political education, collective organising, and transformative leadership grounded in solidarity and accountability.

12/05/2026