This brief highlights how the SEF supports the Early Childhood Development sector by creating part-time jobs, building the capacity of ECD practitioners, and improving early learning outcomes. It showcases partnerships with implementing organisations like Impande, Nal’ibali, Lima, and Thembalethu Development.
The document outlines how stipends, training, mentorship, and resource provision strengthen ECD centres, expand literacy initiatives, and increase access to quality services for children in poor communities. It also reflects on broader impacts such as improved child development, community collaboration, pathways to sustainable employment, and lessons learned through the Social Employment Network.
To download the full brief, please click here.
Social Employment as a model for local impact
Written by: Thula Zondi In South Africa, public employment programmes are often seen as a temporary intervention, a stopgap measure intended to move people quickly into formal jobs or self-enterprise opportunities. . This logic fundamentally misunderstands the role...
Reflect. Reconnect. Reimagine: A Reflection on the SEF Round 4 Kick-off Workshop
Written by: Thula Zondi The Social Employment Fund’s (SEF) Round 4 Kick-off workshop took place from 12–13 November 2025 in Johannesburg, hosted by the Social Employment Network (SEN) in partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The two-day event...
Thousands of Lives Transformed Through the Social Employment Fund: Over Half Move into Jobs or Businesses
Written by: Thula Zondi The latest Social Employment Fund (SEF) data reveals powerful evidence that South Africa’s public employment investments are paying off, helping individuals move from temporary work into sustainable living. The SEF recognises the vast network...
Social Employment Fund – Learning Brief: Food Security and Nutrition
This brief explores SEF’s contribution to tackling hunger and malnutrition in South Africa by promoting sustainable farming practices, developing agroecological skills, and creating employment. It features initiatives led by implementing partners including African...
Innovative Strategic Partnerships with Zahid Fakey, CEO of weFEEDsa, and Gabrielle Kelly, Head of research, Impact and Innovation at Nal’iBali.
As part of the Social Employment Fund (SEF), the Economic Development Partnership convenes the Social Employment Network (SEN), a community of practice that connects Strategic Implementing Partners (SIPs) and supports collaborative learning. To extend this learning...
Cracking the code of blended finance with Dr Paul Cromhout, CEO of Small Projects Foundation.
As part of the Social Employment Fund (SEF), the Economic Development Partnership convenes the Social Employment Network (SEN), a community of practice that connects Strategic Implementing Partners (SIPs) and supports collaborative learning. To extend this learning...
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The SEF and SEN: Collaborative Approaches to Addressing South Africa’s Unemployment Crisis
The pandemic triggered soaring unemployment and deepening poverty, further exacerbating inequality and fraying the social fabric of South Africa. Despite some subsequent recovery, unemployment figures remain unacceptably high. The Social Employment Fund (SEF),...
NGO Nexus Partnering Innovative Private Sector Partnerships
