The SAZF (South African Zionist Federation) is over 120 years old, and was founded a year after Theodore Herzl’s first World Zionist Congress (WZC) in Basel in 1897. We are the custodians of Zionism in South Africa and the umbrella body for all Zionist-affiliated organisations.

Our mission is to build strong support and promote love for the Land and State of Israel. Through education, advocacy, and relationship-building with South African political, religious and cultural communities, we connect South Africans to Israel.

A significant component of its activity includes structured campus engagement and student outreach, aimed at supporting Jewish students and strengthening pro-Israel presence within university environments. The Federation also maintains a strong focus on public advocacy and coalition-building, working across communal and intercommunal platforms to advance its objectives.

In addition, it plays a key role in educational programming and leadership development within the community, ensuring continuity of organisational capacity and sustained engagement across generations. Through these combined functions, the Federation operates as a coordinated and institutionally structured voice for Zionist interests within the South African public sphere.