In 2001, Cyril Ramaphosa was approached by his former primary school, Tshilidzi Primary in Soweto, to assist with the donation of a fax machine. When he returned to his school to hand over the donation and saw the further needs of the school, the notion of the Adopt-a-School Foundation was born. In 2002, the Foundation was officially established by a group of concerned individuals including Cyril Ramaphosa and Dr James Motlatsi.

The Foundation strives to address the inequalities and inadequacies in our rural and disadvantaged schools, in order to ensure positive learning experiences which will lead to greater opportunities for South Africa’s youth.

Over the last 10 years, Adopt-a-School has inspired both businesses and individuals in the private sector to invest effectively in education in South Africa through our model of Whole School Development.