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_(square).jpg) The University of the Witwatersrand | |
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| Established | 1934; 91 years ago (1934) |
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| Focus | Africanforeign policy analysis,risk analysis, governance andconflict analysis,economic analysis |
| Headquarters | Jan Smuts House,Wits University,Johannesburg,South Africa |
Chairman | Moeletsi Mbeki |
Chief Executive | Elizabeth Sidiropoulos |
| Website | saiia |
TheSouth African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) is an independentpublic policy andforeign relationsthink tank based inJohannesburg,South Africa.[1][2][3] Founded in 1934 inCape Town, the institute has been located on the campus of theUniversity of the Witwatersrand since 1944.[4]
The institute is organised under four research programmes in the fields of 'Foreign Policy', 'African Governance and Diplomacy', 'Economic Resilience and Inclusion', and 'Climate and Natural Resources'. Since 1993, SAIIA has published the quarterly, peer-reviewedSouth African Journal of Foreign Affairs throughRoutledge ofTaylor & Francis, along with monographs, policy papers and opinion pieces.[5]
SAIIA was ranked third among African think tanks in the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report published by theUniversity of Pennsylvania. It is ranked 85th internationally and is one of only five African think tanks placed in the global Top 100.[6] The institute maintains a 'strategic partnership' withChatham House, engaging particularly in the field African-European relations.[7]
The current chair of SAIIA isMoeletsi Mbeki, with Elizabeth Sidiropoulos as Chief Executive.
SAIIA was founded in 1934 inCape Town withSir James Carruthers Beattie, the first president of theUniversity of Cape Town, andF. S. Malan, formerlyPresident of the Senate of South Africa, as president and vice-president, respectively.[4]
AfterWorld War II, then Chairperson Dr WJ Busschau moved the head office of SAIIA to the new Jan Smuts House inJohannesburg, which was established by the Smuts Memorial Trust along with the establishment of the Department ofInternational Relations at theUniversity of the Witwatersrand.[4]
Since 1969, SAIIA has organised annual conferences and created partnerships with global research institutions and academic departments. Between 1934 and 1983, the institute opened branch offices in all major South African cities, as well asNamibia and theUnited Kingdom.
Shortly before the end ofApartheid and South Africa's political transition in 1994, SAIIA began publishing theSouth African Journal of International Affairs. Between 1996 and 2005, the institute was led byGreg Mills as national director and began working closely withdiplomatic missions in South Africa as strategic partners.[8]
In November 2024, SAIIA was chosen by South Africa's foreign ministry, theDepartment of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), as one of three think tanks to coordinate the research component of South Africa's 2025G20 presidency.[9]
SAIIA is organised in five research programmes:[10]
Further, research is categorised according to themes, which include Climate Change, Development, Economic Diplomacy, Foresight, Foreign Policy, Governance, and Natural Resources.[11]
As an independent institute, SAIIA is funded primarily through external donors, which include theDepartment of International Relations and Cooperation,Konrad Adenauer Foundation, theSwedish International Development Cooperation Agency, theUnited States Agency for International Development,Chatham House, Southern Africa Trust,Terre des Hommes, theEuropean Union, the Embassy ofFinland,Ekurhuleni Municipality, theGauteng Provincial Government, and theNorwegian Foreign Ministry.
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