Press Releases

Civil rights organisation Free SA has raised serious concerns about the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs’ proposed Amendment Regulations aimed at aligning long-term development planning across South Africa’s three spheres of government. While the regulations are presented as a mechanism to improve coordination and service delivery, Free SA cautions that, in practice, they […]

Cornerstone Institute has officially secured seven founding partners for the first phase of its Give Back 100 campaign. This national bursary initiative is designed to expand access to higher education for those previously excluded while strengthening the critical link between academic study and the workplace. The Give Back 100 bursary programme represents a minimum investment

Free SA has noted the publication of the Draft Policy Direction on Electronic Communications Network Deployment by the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, aimed at accelerating broadband rollout across South Africa. While the intention to reduce delays and expand access to affordable, high-speed internet is commendable, the current draft raises serious concerns about the

Before she was a master of the reefs, Silindile “Mama Sli” Mbuyazi was a young girl terrified of the ocean, certain she would never enter the water. Her journey from profound fear to deep-seated love for the sea is the heartbeat of “Indoni Yamanzi”, a landmark film currently in post-production that captures her transformation from

Despite welcome commitments to education, the failure to open funding to accredited private institutions means thousands of students will remain stranded, says Geoff Schreiner of Cornerstone Institute. Cape Town, South Africa – 26 February 2025 – Cornerstone Institute has welcomed the government’s continued recognition of higher education as a national priority, but warned that the

The student funding programme welcomes higher‑education commitments, but says leaving income caps untouched keeps too many capable students on the sidelines. Johannesburg, South Africa – 26 February 2026 – Responding to the national budget speech, the Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (ISFAP) has welcomed the continued prioritisation of higher education funding, but expressed concern that

Cape Town – The Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI), together with the Environmental Justice Network (EJN), African Climate Alliance (ACA), Project 90 by 2030, the Social Change Assistance Trust (SCAT), The Green Connection and the Heinrich Böll Foundation,  co-hosted a dynamic World Café dialogue and campaign exhibition at the 17th Alternative Mining Indaba

Johannesburg, South Africa – As universities across South Africa open for the 2026 academic year this week, the Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (ISFAP) has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the country’s “missing middle”, students who do not qualify for traditional government funding yet cannot afford the full cost of university education on their own.

Free SA, the Foundation for Rights of Expression and Equality, has raised alarm over the draft regulations issued under the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act, 2023, warning that the proposed implementation framework threatens to undermine certain core values embedded in South Africa’s constitutional democracy. In a formal submission to the

The Foundation for Rights of Expression and Equality, Free SA, has issued a strong caution against the National Minimum Wage Commission’s proposed wage hike for 2026, calling it a “policy of exclusion” that risks deepening South Africa’s already catastrophic unemployment crisis. In its submission, authored by Free SA Director Paul Maritz, it argues that in