Independent and quality justice system

Accountability Now is a non-profit civil society organisation that works to promote constitutionalism, accountability and responsiveness in South Africa. Through advocacy, public engagement and public interest litigation, it seeks to hold those in positions of power accountable, strengthen the rule of law and ensure that constitutional rights and obligations are respected.

Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA) exists to support government-led responses by mobilising and integrating private-sector capability where the State cannot easily act at speed or scale. Their role is to strengthen execution: advancing data integration, analytics, digital and financial forensics, and disciplined programme delivery. BACSA assists to improve coordination across institutions, reinforce accountability and translate agreed priorities into measurable outcomes. Alongside system-level reform, they enable targeted, evidence-led interventions against the most harmful criminal networks and illicit economies.

The Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Competition is the most important gathering of students, scholars and judges on human rights in Africa. This annual event brings together all the Faculties of Law in Africa, whose best students plead a hypothetical case on human rights as if they were before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Christof Heyns Moot Competition aims to continuously prepare new generations of jurists to prosecute cases of alleged human rights violations before the African Court.

Council for the Advancement of the Constitution (CASAC) is an initiative led by progressive people who seek to advance the South African Constitution as a platform for democratic politics and the transformation of society. CASAC believes in the advancement of a society whose values are based on the core principles of the Constitution, namely the promotion of socio-economic rights, judicial independence, the rule of law, public accountability, and open governance. The founding members of its Council believe that the people are the ultimate custodians of the Constitution, and that custodianship needs to be relocated from institutions to people. Once constitutional rights are claimed by the many, then ordinary people will undertake extraordinary acts to assert their rights and protect and advance the Constitution.

The Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights is a research institute in the Faculty of Law at the University of the Western Cape. Through research, teaching and advocacy, the Institute works to advance good governance and human rights in Africa, with a focus on children’s rights, socio-economic rights, multilevel government and criminal justice.

The aim of Freedom Under Law (FUL) is to promote democracy under law by a) advancing understanding of and respect for the rule of law, b) litigating in relation to institutional conduct in conflict with the rule of law, c) strengthening the independence of the judiciary, d) supporting the legal profession in serving the courts, e) enhancing understanding between legal role-players, the media and society at large, f) furthering legal education appropriate to the needs of constitutional democracy and g) protecting freedom of speech and freedom of the media concerning the administration of justice.

Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) promotes constitutional democracy, rule of law and human rights. Their mission is to ensure that key institutions of constitutional democracy in South Africa are strengthened and protected so that they, domestically and internationally, deliver on the Constitution’s promise. To achieve this, HSF a) undertakes public interest litigation that safeguards the rights of vulnerable persons who are unable to utilise the ordinary political process in order to do so; b) supports public advocacy interventions and dialogue that promote public participation and deliberation and so result in informed, reasoned decision-making; and c) works to end impunity for systematic criminal conduct destructive of a constitutional state – whether for state capture-related crimes or apartheid era atrocities.

Institute for Security Studies (ISS) works with partners to build knowledge and skills that enable sustainable peace, development and prosperity in Africa. The ISS is Africa’s leading multidisciplinary human security organisation, with a unique operational model that combines research, policy analysis, technical assistance and training.

Judges Matter is a research and advocacy project dedicated to enhancing transparency and accountability within South Africa’s judiciary. Judges Matter conducts rigorous applied research, monitoring, and advocacy to inform evidence-based legal, policy and practice reforms to ensure the judiciary remains independent, effective, and trusted by the public. Judges Matter’s key areas of focus are on: a) Judicial Appointments: to ensure quality, independent judges and magistrates for our courts; b) Judicial Conduct: to ensure judges remain accountable, ethical, and independent and c) Judicial Governance: to ensure that the judiciary is well-resourced and effectively governed.

The Southern African Legal Information Institute (SAFLII) is a free online repository of public legal information, including judgments, legislation and legal journals. By making legal materials openly accessible, SAFLII seeks to improve access to justice, strengthen judicial accountability and support the rule of law in South Africa and the wider region.

The South Africa Organised Crime Observatory (SA-Obs) works to gather granular data on illicit economies and criminal networks, strengthen societal responses to organised crime, facilitate engagement between government and civil society and disrupt organised crime. Launched in October 2023, SA-Obs is a response to high levels of violent organised crime in South Africa, as measured by the Global Organised Crime Index. SA-Obs aims to build on the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime’s (GI-TOC’s) Strategic Organised Crime Risk Assessment of South Africa, which identified 15 criminal markets that cause the greatest harm and pose an existential threat to the country’s democratic institutions, economy and society.

Kululeko NPC (TAPP) combines intelligent technology, trusted partnerships and proactive community safety initiatives to help protect those most at risk.