Our donors

Bhekisisa was launched in January 2013 as the Mail & Guardian’s (M&G) health desk with financial support from the German government’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The grant was a 50-50 private-public-partnership between the M&G and GIZ and ended in June 2014. Bhekisisa then received another three grants from GIZ, which ended in August 2017.

In March 2015, Bhekisisa registered as a non-profit organisation that operated financially independently from the M&G. The centre, however, still functioned as the publication’s health desk. In return, the M&G provided Bhekisisa with free office space, internet, phones and access to graphic designers and sub-editors.

In July 2019, Bhekisisa moved into its own offices to become fully independent. The centre now syndicates its copy to the Daily MaverickNews24 and the M&G.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been Bhekisisa’s main donor since September 2015. Bhekisisa is also funded by the Open Society Foundations’ Public Health ProgrammeHivos’s Regional Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Fund and the National Research Foundation.  The centre has also received support from the Canon Collins Educational and Legal Assistance Trust’s Sylvester Stein fellowship, the International Centre for Journalists Facebook Journalism Project, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, the United Nations Population FundGlobal Health Strategies and the Community Media Trust.

The centre also funds its work through a mix of trainings for journalists and healthcare professionals, hosting and moderating events as well contributions from readers like you.

When you give to Bhekisisa, you’re standing up for the right of the public to hold our leaders accountable for the creation and implementation of evidence-based health and social justice policies. Sign up to support our deeply-researched, public interest journalism today. No matter the size of contribution, it helps to activate change.