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About the Javett Foundation
Michael, Rebecca, Stanley and Samuel Javett.
The Javett Foundation is a South African philanthropic trust that supports the educational activities of mainly Gauteng based cultural and artistic organisations, including museums, galleries, schools and universities. Its remit includes organisations of wider cultural, historical and scientific importance.
The Foundation was established in 2013 by Michael Javett, consolidating his and his family’s previous philanthropic interests in education and culture. While Michael died in 2022 the Foundation continues his and his family’s commitment to the support of education in arts and culture.
The Javett Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications for funding.
What we fund
The Javett Foundation chiefly supports beneficiaries operating in the spheres of education, skills development, arts and culture. Learn more about some of the organisations we fund here:
Enlighten Education Trust
One of the most significant projects funded by the Sunshine Foundation Trust, the forerunner to the Javett Foundation, was the building of the Enlighten Education and Training Centre, to house programmes aimed at improving education in the Overstrand.
Image: Enlighten Education Trust
Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra
The
JPO was formed in 2000 by a group of musicians following
the demise of the National Symphony Orchestra. It performs regular
series of symphony seasons, featuring international and local
soloists and conductors.
Image: JPO
Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria
Opened in September 2019, the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria (Javett-UP) is a publicly accessible accessible centre where the art of Africa is exhibited, preserved, discussed, interrogated and celebrated.
Image: Mathews & Associates Architects
Governance
The Javett Foundation is registered as a non-profit organisation (registration no. 123-248-NPO) in terms of the Non-Profit Organisation Act (No. 71 of 1997), and a public benefit organisation (registration no. 930043262) in terms of the Income Tax Act (No. 58 of 1962).
The Javett Foundation is also a registered non-profit trust (registration no. 851/2013), in terms of the Trust Property Control Act (No. 57 of 1988). As such, it is governed by a board of trustees, as detailed below.
Trustees
Catherine Kennedy
Catherine Kennedy is a civil society consultant based in Johannesburg. Since 2018, she has managed the Constitutional Court Trust, a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting human rights, the rule of law, constitutionalism, and judicial independence in Africa, with a special focus on the Constitutional Court of South Africa. From 2009 to 2016, Catherine served as the Director of the South African History Archive (SAHA), an independent human rights archive. She has also provided short-term archival consultancy and training in various conflict and post-conflict contexts internationally on behalf of international non-governmental organisations. She has served on various boards, including those of GALA, an independent queer activist archive based at Wits University, and the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria.
Leigh Bregman
Leigh Bregman is a businessman and was previously an investment banker with Rand Merchant Bank and Morgan Stanley. He studied at the University of the Witwatersrand and Carnegie Mellon University before completing his doctorate in the history and philosophy of science at University College London. He has long been involved in philanthropy through, among others, the Sunshine Foundation Trust which was the precursor to the Javett Foundation. He is on the board of the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria and is also involved in other philanthropic foundations.
Pfunzo Sidogi
Pfunzo Sidogi is the Assistant Dean for Postgraduate Studies, Research and Innovation at the Faculty of Arts and Design at the Tshwane University of Technology. He also serves as the Chairperson of the Sasol New Signatures Art Competition and the South African Visual Arts Historians Association. He is the author of Mihloti Ya Ntsako: Journeys with the Bongi Dhlomo Collection (Pretoria: Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria, 2022), winner of two major book awards, and The De-Africanization of African Art: Towards Post-African Aesthetics (New York: Routledge, 2022), which he co-edited with Denis Ekpo.
Stewart Shaw Taylor
Stewart Shaw Taylor has more than 37 years’ experience in investment banking and real estate. He is a chartered accountant and over the years, prior to retirement from Standard Bank, has headed up various portfolios, including real estate debt and equity and group real estate services. He has maintained his connection with the business world and continues to serve on a number of listed and unlisted boards and audit and investment committees.
In Memoriam
Michael Javett
Michael Javett (Died 2022) studied law at Wits University and then practiced as an attorney at Webber Wentzel. He moved to London to join the international law firm Allen & Overy and subsequently pursued a career as a merchant banker at Hill Samuel. He then returned to South Africa where he established the Unisec Group that was later sold to Standard Bank. He also established Tolux SA, which has since become Brait. He was deeply committed to education in South Africa, supporting it first through the Sunshine Foundation Trust and then through the establishment of the Javett Foundation.
Edward Southey
Edward Southey (Died 2025) was Chairperson of the Javett Foundation from its founding in 2013. He was an attorney with Webber Wentzel in Johannesburg and was the firm’s senior partner before his retirement in 2007. A former member of the Council of the Law Society of the Transvaal, he served two terms as president, in 1983 and 1984. He was also president of the Law Society of South Africa in 1993. He was a trustee of a number of charitable and educational trusts.
Contact us
Tel: 011 550 4080
Email: info@javettfoundation.org.za
Address
Ground Floor, Cradock Heights,
21 Cradock Avenue, Rosebank,
Johannesburg, 2196, South Africa