It Began With

Afrika Tikkun is a proudly South African, apolitical non-profit organisation and recent winner of SA's Best NGO award by the CSI Legacy Awards.

For 30 years, we have been a leading provider of education, health, social services, skills development and job placements to disadvantaged communities across the country.

Our award-winning "Cradle-to-Career 360-degree model" provides holistic development from early childhood through to economic opportunities. We currently support 45,000 children and youth through five centres of excellence and four support centres nationwide, in partnership with government, the private sector and civil society.

Over three decades, Afrika Tikkun has enriched the lives of over two million young black people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We provided valuable community upliftment, support and empowerment by serving over 25 million nutritious meals, distributed 77,000 food parcels, and provided social support to 105,000 families. We operate five centres of excellence, and four support centres nationwide and have additional support and training centres across South Africa.

Afrika Tikkun operates with full financial transparency through independently audited accounts. Our diverse team, comprising all races and religions, is united by our mission to create sustainable socio-economic solutions for South African youth.

We remain unwaveringly dedicated to creating sustainable socio-economic solutions by breaking the cycle of poverty, because every child deserves the chance to thrive—not just survive.

Many members of the Jewish community are active in fields such as counselling, training, community development and inter-group contact. A significant Jewish initiative in the area of reconstruction and development was the establishment of TIKKUN, a community project to uplift the disadvantaged.

TIKKUN, spearheaded by industrialist Mr Bertie Lubner and Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris, is the coordinating body of Jewish organisations involved in upliftment, harnessing Jewish community resources, individual skills and expertise to fulfil its outreach projects. The operational sectors of TIKKUN cover Education, Agriculture, Business and Professions, Health, Welfare, Housing, Public Relations, Youth and Sport, Art and Culture.

"Recognising the moral imperatives governing human affairs, men and women of goodwill can face up to the challenge of our time and make the caring society a reality." So it was from that idea that the word Tikkun was used to start an initiative that would harness the energies of those committed to building a new South Africa. Chief Rabbi Harris said that the concept of Afrika Tikkun was twofold — ideological while at the same time "brutally practical". He saw his role as co-chairman of Afrika Tikkun as "the inspirer to continue the efforts… to create new avenues of help and get more and more of our community involved".