The Public Affairs Research Institute

VISION

A democratic, capable and responsive state that ensures a just society.

MISSION

PARI conducts high-quality, evidence-based, interdisciplinary research to generate robust new knowledge, enabling us to understand institutional barriers to substantive democracy and state capability. We advocate for better state performance and state-society relations, shape public discourse and build the capacity of the current and next generation of scholars and practitioners.

VALUES

• Committed to social justice
• Rigorous ethical, empirical and evidence-based research
• Global South lens
• Collaborative and contextual knowledge production
• Innovative and responsive

The organisation was established in 2010 to respond to the gap in the civil society and academic sectors – there was too little analytical and problem-solving work that focused on the relationship between state capacity and accountability in South Africa.

Our work on the constraints to effective governance, underlines the importance of improved institutional design and performance. PARI’s long-term goal is to contribute to a more effective and accountable state that is better equipped and orientated towards the development of a just society.

To do this, we collaborate with civil society organisations, think tanks, state institutions and academic institutions, to:

• Produce new and original research into public institutions, state formation, state-society relations and public policy;
• Realise advocacy campaigns to achieve state reform, focusing on the various programme areas, strategic collaborations and cooperation with the state;
• Maintain an academic profile through university affiliations and teaching programmes, to:
  • foster a conducive intellectual environment within the organisation, and
  • contribute to the study fields of state governance and state-society relations
• Shape public opinion in relevant interest groups through targeted communications;
• Maintain a repository of research accessible to the public.

Our work focuses on the following programmes:

• State Reform Programme
• Local Government
• Land Governance
• Just Transition
• Teaching & Learning

THE PARI TEAM

PARI is staffed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers, programme leads, and specialists across governance, municipal finance, political science, economics, public administration, law, anthropology and social sciences. The Executive Director leads the institute, supported by Programme Leads for the five programmes.The organisation employs ten full time researchers working under the various programmes.

Our programmatic work is supported by operations functions in Communications, Administration, Finance, and HR. We have ten full time staff across operations.

BOARD Of DIRECTORS

PARI is delighted to welcome Zama Ndlovu, Siphosami Malunga and Nico Esterhuizen to its Board of Directors. They join current non-executive Directors – Mr Kuben Naidoo, Adv Lerato Phasha, Ms Zeenat Sujee – and Executive Director, Dr Sithembile Mbete. Their combined experience and leadership will play an important role in strengthening PARI’s governance and supporting its mission to advance evidence-based public policy and capable democratic institutions in South Africa.