History

The earliest USAID efforts in South Africa began in 1979.  Working through the Human Rights Fund, USAID supported local non-governmental organizations working on human rights activities.

A formal USAID program did not start in South Africa until 1986, when the U.S. Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 authorized the appropriation of funding for a foreign assistance program to help South African victims of apartheid.  The funding was given directly to private entities.  This assistance came in several forms:

• Scholarships to secondary school and university, both inside South Africa and in the U.S.;
• Community based education including multi-racial schools and adult education;
• Support of local non-governmental organizations active in human rights;
• Training of unionists, black managers, and black business leaders in leadership and business skills;
• Training of community organizers in first aid, health care, and emergency management; and
• Small grants to local community groups to establish health or education to promote income generation and employment.

The Community Outreach and Leadership Development (COLD) program was one of the largest during this period. COLD gave grants to local non-government organizations and civic associations to develop community leadership and representative institutions. It also supported disadvantaged communities to pursue their own priorities for social and political change. Activities included leadership training, small business development, adult education, information dissemination, and teacher training.  

USAID programming began to change in the lead-up to the national election in 1994.  COLD began providing grants to local organizations to conduct voter and democracy education workshops, created voter education centers, established voter documentation programs, trained poll workers and journalists, and supported human rights.

“Today we are entering a new era for our country and its people.  Today we celebrate not the victory of a party, but a victory for all the people of South Africa.” Nelson Mandela,  Presidential Inaguration, May 9, 1994

USAID’s assistance grew from $7 million in Fiscal Year 1985 to $212 million after the elections.  Post-apartheid, USAID concentrated on promoting human, civil, and legal rights; improving access to education; facilitating loans through local organizations to small businesses; and delivering low-cost mortgage loans that allowed 4000 low-income families to buy homes.  South African economists were sent to the U.S. for advanced training and returned to work for the South African government or private companies. Additionally, USAID assisted in approving over 1 million housing subsidies and nearly three quarters of a million houses were completed or under construction, through housing guarantees.

In 2000, USAID once again refocused their efforts- concentrating on decreasing the criminal case backlogs, providing anti-retroviral treatment to HIV/AIDS patients, helping the South African government to address land tenure issues, supporting black-owned firms and agribusinesses, and assisting nearly 200,000 households gain access to housing, water, sanitation and power. USAID also began promoting public-private partnerships with organizations such as Sesame Street and Microsoft.  With Sesame Street, USAID partnered to develop a character who is HIV positive in order diminish stigmatization and promote prevention of the disease.  Microsoft was involved in helping strengthen science and math program in schools.

Throughout most of the decade, USAID supported programs to strengthen basic education.  Overall, USAID worked to improve student outcomes by training teachers to incorporate critical thinking skills into their curriculums, giving scholarships, developing reading material and curriculums in maternal languages, and incorporating technology into the classroom.  USAID also supports peer education programs in the schools that disseminate health messages and promote healthy behaviors.

The current USAID portfolio has evolved over the last few years to focus on critical needs.  Almost 98 percent of the work USAID does in South Africa is related to health- primarily HIV/AIDS, but also addressing tuberculosis and family planning. USAID continues to support historically disadvantaged small and medium enterprises and has begun assistance to workforce development programs.  USAID is also helping South Africa facilitate access to credit.  USAID continues to work through the court system, but now primarily focuses on gender issues, particularly violence against women.  Through trilateral agreements, USAID is assisting the South African Government develop their capacity as an emerging donor.  For more information on our current programs, please look at our Program section of this website.