Responsible volunteering in South Africa

Responsible volunteering in South Africa starts with research to ensure your time and energy is going to a worthy cause – and that you are the right person for the job. Expect to be vetted, ask about long term objectives, and find a project that suits you.

As the population grows and development spreads, animals are coming into closer conflict with humans, as both parties battle for crops and fight over natural habitats. Schools in underprivileged city suburbs and rural township communities are also being pushed to breaking point. A lack of classroom assistants and teachers impacts on overcrowded classrooms, where physical education, art and music are extracurricular activities that are often ignored. Volunteers in South Africa can make a huge difference. Teachers, sports coaches and teaching assistants; skilled and manual labourers; volunteers with experience or just a positive attitude; volunteering can be an experience that can change your life and the lives of others.

Ask questions; find out what a volunteer programme has achieved in the past and what their plans are for the future. Will you have the right level of support? Where you will be staying? How long will you be working each day? Who else will you be living with? Just do as much research as possible to ensure your skills and experience will be put to the best use possible.

If you are an experienced teacher, ask if you can set up skills-sharing sessions with local teachers; you can suggest new classroom ideas or improve their language skills, while they can give insights into the local culture and share teaching tips of their own. This has a longer term impact, and supports local staff, rather than competing with them. It’s also vital that pupils look to members of their own community for education and skills, rather than assuming these are best learned from foreigners.

For more information, see our guidelines for volunteer teachers and coaches.

If you see offers of walking big cats on a lead or cuddling cubs as part of your day-to-day role, think: what's in it for the animals? Learn about a rehabilitation centre's ethos, accreditation and their success rate in returning animals to the wild. Are you just going to be signing up to a glorified zoo or, worse still, a volunteer placing big cats on a conveyor belt for trophy hunters?

See our Wildlife conservation volunteering guide for more information about the issues surrounding handling wildlife and choosing legitimate placements.

Cape Town has seen its worst ever drought in recorded memory. Consecutively low annual rainfall has caused many communities living in surrounding suburbs to have to queue for hours to collect water from taps. Restrictions on Cape Town residents in 2018 limited each household to 50 litres of water per day. Although these rationing exercises provide a short term fix there's still a very long way to go if the drought issue on the Western Cape is to be fully addressed. The lack of water not only affects South Africa’s urban population; rural communities are also put under increasing strain, too. Rainfall is essential for maintaining agriculture and already erosion is a huge environmental issue. The impact on wildlife is huge with the constant fight for water bringing farmers and wild animals into greater conflict. Volunteering projects that take place outside of South Africa's national parks and game reserves often aim to protect ecosystems and preserve the natural environment as well as monitoring and counting animals. Erosion patrols and taking out invasive plants are some of the daily duties you can expect if you're volunteering in the wild. And although you may not be encountering the Big Five on a daily basis, or feeding orphaned monkeys, you will be contributing your time and energy to tackling one of the most significant environmental problems South Africa has ever had to face.

What you can do
No matter where you volunteer in South Africa, limiting your water consumption and not wasting water is vital for helping to address the drought. Take care when washing, drinking and cooking with water. Use hand gel as an alternative, wherever possible. If you're trekking or working in the wild make sure you stick to marked trails or designated areas. In this way you'll be helping to prevent further erosion taking place on already desperately dry landscapes. Also, have some empathy for what urban and rural communities are going through and don’t be too demanding when it comes to fitting in with local lifestyles.

If you’re volunteering with wildlife or as part of a conservation team, find out more about the researchers, the guides, and the experts who are responsible for the project. Discuss responsible wildlife policies and what guidelines need to be adhered to. The emphasis of a volunteering placement should be on what you can offer to the destination, rather than just another holiday, or even what you can add to your CV. You’ll get time off for fun and games, don’t worry, however, often, it’s the working week that will prove to be the most memorable, more worthwhile. Respect local traditions and, wherever possible, get to know local people, both at work and in the community. This is one of the best ways to learn more about the real South Africa and not just what you’ll see through the eyes of a typical tourist. Your expectations should be managed honestly so you know what you’re letting yourself in for. Volunteering with primates, for example, requires a lot of food prep at the start of each and every day; it’s not all about feeding and cuddling baby monkeys; although there are lots of opportunities to do that too. If you’re volunteering in a school, ask your organisation which items might be of use to donate – it’s not always pens and exercise books! Newspapers, magazines, comics, photographs and things from back home can make for really useful teaching aids. If stationery, books, art supplies and sports equipment are requested, buy them once you arrive in South Africa to support local businesses.