INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME

Each year, the FW de Klerk Foundation hosts interns from South Africa and abroad, offering them the opportunity to gain significant exposure to constitutional law advocacy and to further develop their writing skills. 

Intern Duties for the Constitutional Rights Programme:

The Intern will be involved with compiling the Human Rights Report Card 2025 and assisting the Foundation’s staff in researching and collating the impact on each of the applicable constitutional rights, by inter alia:
- Collating the Foundation’s research, submissions, articles and statements on each right;
- Researching academic publications;
- Researching laws and court decisions on the subject at hand;
- Researching policy documents, reports from government departments and/or entities, parliamentary committee reports and parliamentary questions, as well as Inter-Governmental Organisations and Non-governmental organisations regarding human rights issues in South Africa; and
- Monitoring the media and reporting back on any relevant news relating to constitutional rights in the relevant year.
The Intern will assist in organising, and participating in, the launch of the Human Rights Report Card 2025. This will include presenting at the launch, assisting with logistics, invitations and follow-up communications.
The Intern will assist in organising the annual Constitutional Rights Conference that takes place in Johannesburg during July. This will include assisting with logistics, invitations and follow-up communications.
The Intern is expected to write a minimum of two (2) articles per month during the intern’s time at the Foundation, on a topic related to the Foundation’s constitutional rights research work. The Intern may choose a topic, and a supervisor of the Foundation will provide advice and suggestions for their article. The Intern may decide to submit a case summary which will be considered in place of one article.
The Intern is expected to do desktop research work as assigned by a Foundation staff member on a current constitutional topic.
The Intern is expected to monitor the development of proposed legislation as assigned by a Foundation staff member in Parliament and attend Portfolio Committee meetings where necessary.
Where relevant, the Intern will attend meetings alongside the Foundation with other organisations to discuss recent national developments that will or may have an impact on constitutional rights in South Africa.
The Intern may be asked to provide information, videos etc. to the Marketing Manager for promotion on social media.
From time to time, the Intern will be asked to participate in administrative tasks involving the Foundation.
The Intern is expected to attend two (2) check-in meetings a week with a supervisor of the Foundation where they will feedback on their research.
The Intern acknowledges that they may be requested to participate in and/or focus on other ad hoc themes as directed by the Foundation during their tenure.

Intern Duties for the Constitutional Advancement Programme:

Applications for the Constitutional Advancement Programme will open in February.

Please note that internship applications will close on 25 January. Start date: 2 February 2026

If you have any questions or queries, please feel free to contact us on info@fwdeklerk.org.