South Africa is lucky to have one of the four DAAD Information Centers in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is located in Johannesburg with a nationwide mandate for the Republic of South Africa. The Information Center provides information and consultations for South African institutions, Higher Education Management, Academics, Future Researchers, Students and Staff. It coordinates a variety of projects and programmes in all fields of higher education and research cooperations between South Africa and Germany.
During annual road trips, workshops and seminars, we are happy to engage with you and meet for private consultations. Check the upcoming events on this website and on our Facebook
What We Do
- Advise on studying and research in Germany, as well as DAAD funding opportunities
- Cooperating with South African universities and academics
- Cooperating with higher education policy makers such as the NRF, the DST and the DHET and higher education and research bodies
- Cooperating with German institutions in South Africa such as the German Embassy, the Goethe Institute, and the German development cooperation
- Taking part in and organising higher education and research related conferences and events
History of DAAD in South Africa
The systematic promotion of DAAD scholarships in South Africa can be traced back to 1981. That is 35 years ago and long before most of the new scholarship holders were born.
With the launch of the special “Southern Africa” programme the Federal Foreign Office of Germany aimed to give disadvantaged sections of the population better educational opportunities through the availability of scholarships. That hasn’t changed. The main focus of this programme was to qualify future teachers, as education is the basis for prosperous careers.
The first scholarships were granted to 11 students at the University of Zululand.
In collaboration with the South African Institute of Race Relations additional secondary school pupils and students were selected for an In-Country scholarship. Altogether, 117 scholarships were granted in 1981.
The DAAD database indicates that prior to 1981 there were 83 South African alumni who had come to Germany on “one-year scholarships” to complete doctorates.
Academic exchanges with South Africa began on a broad basis in 1997 when the Information Centre was established in Johannesburg.
Today, South Africa is one of main countries in Southern Africa that forms the focus of DAAD scholarships. The range of programmes has been enhanced appreciably, with the number of scholarships increasing significantly. In 2016, a total of 432 South Africans have been funded in more than 40 different programmes.
The DAAD has been consistently expanding its presence in the country since 1997. The lectureship at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg has evolved into an Information Centre with 3 permanent members of staff and regular internships; this is complemented by a lectureship at the German department of the Stellenbosch University, a lectureship in the Economic Sciences faculty at the School of Government at the University of the Western Cape as well as a long-term lectureship in vehicle engineering established in Port Elizabeth in 2007 as a cooperative venture financed by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, VW South Africa and the DAAD.
