About us

About us

Tackling every aspect of the HIV/Aids pandemic

The HIV/Aids pandemic has had a devastating effect in many countries over several decades. South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa have had the highest incidence across the world and have therefore been most affected by HIV and Aids. The Africa Centre enrolled its first cohort of students for the Postgraduate Diploma in HIV/Aids Management (PgDip in HIV/Aids Management) in 2001, making it the first programme of its kind in the world. Apart from its postgraduate programmes, the Africa Centre partners with local, national and international institutions to undertake research on a range of issues around HIV/Aids and the world of work. The Africa Centre also engages in community outreach programmes.

Goals and purposes

The Africa Centre believes academic institutions must play a creative and active role in nourishing social, political and economic transformation. We structure this role on three pillars: academic programmes, research and community engagement. Considering these pillars, the Africa Centre aims to:

  • Build knowledge and infrastructure in order to maintain the highest possible standards in the education, research, and service rendering on HIV/Aids in the workplace by offering postgraduate educational programmes on the management of HIV/Aids in the workplace (which can be also offered in collaboration with other institutions and with the support of external funding),
  • Conduct research with respect to HIV/Aids in the workplace, as well as publish the results in peer-reviewed journals,
  • Develop and implement community projects relating to the management of HIV/Aids in the workplace,
  • Make available knowledge and expertise in the area of HIV/Aids in the workplace to interested people and organisations, and
  • Control and manage external funds earmarked for the Centre to improve its teaching, research and service-rendering capabilities

Apart from the dedicated permanent staff, the Centre collaborates with specialists in various sectors, from both inside and outside Stellenbosch University. Every person involved with the work of the Africa Centre has a true passion for being proactive about HIV/Aids and bringing hope to a nation severely affected by the disease.

Community collaborative partnerships for social impact

The Community Chest envisions a world where all individuals and families achieve their human potential through access to world-class education, social and economic justice, income progress, and access to a healthy lifestyle.

We believe in investing financial resources and training in the development of ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP across all sectors of society.

The Movement for Change and Social Justice (MCSJ) is a not-for-profit, non-partisan, and non-religious alliance of organisations aimed at improving the health and lives of people in Gugulethu and surrounding areas. They work in Klipfontein, which includes Gugulethu, New Crossroads, Nyanga, Manenberg, KTC, Philippi and Heideveld in Cape Town.

The Activist Education and Development Centre (AEDC), aims to support community-based activists in the Western and Eastern Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. The organisation mainly supports women living with HIV and supports grassroots adolescent girls in movement building around gender equality in the Western Cape.

Umoja for Africa is a not-for-profit organisation focused on skills development and sharing between disadvantaged refugee and migrant communities and South African citizens for social cohesion purposes. Umoja has trained women activists from other community-based organisations to sew re-usable face masks. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in Cape Town they sewed more than 15,000 of these face masks to donate to families in need.

EMS faculty’s transformation charter

The EMS faculty is proud to share its transformation charter, focused on building an inclusive and welcoming space. Please click on the link to also see the Afrikaans and isiXhosa versions.

The Movement for Change and Social Justice (MCSJ) is a not-for-profit, non-partisan, and non-religious alliance of organisations aimed at improving the health and lives of people in Gugulethu and surrounding areas. They work in Klipfontein, which includes Gugulethu, New Crossroads, Nyanga, Manenberg, KTC, Philippi and Heideveld in Cape Town.

The Activist Education and Development Centre (AEDC), aims to support community-based activists in the Western and Eastern Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. The organisation mainly supports women living with HIV and supports grassroots adolescent girls in movement building around gender equality in the Western Cape.

Umoja for Africa is a not-for-profit organisation focused on skills development and sharing between disadvantaged refugee and migrant communities and South African citizens for social cohesion purposes. Umoja has trained women activists from other community-based organisations to sew re-usable face masks. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in Cape Town they sewed more than 15,000 of these face masks to donate to families in need.