The Helen Suzman Foundation was founded in 1993. The Foundation has consistently promoted the liberal democratic values that informed Helen Suzman's work throughout her public life, and that she so clearly demonstrated in her devotion to public service.

The Foundation aims to reach a wide and diverse population, and will offer a platform for the dissemination of informed research and a forum for reasoned debate about policy choices.

Over the past 20 years the country has seen the dismantling of apartheid and the transition from a white minority government to a democratically elected government. While this transition to democracy has been universally lauded, the developmental and institutional weaknesses of state and society continue to impact massively on service delivery, especially to the poor. Problems around service delivery pose a profoud threat to our constitutional democracy. The Helen Suzman Foundation provides a platform to discuss, debate and research areas around service delivery as we believe that the best defence of liberal consitutional democracy is holding government accountable. This we can do by keeping issues before the public.

The Foundation can help promote democracy in South Africa by recognising and highlighting key social issues through its broad-based research programme, and by ensuring that the liberal project is extended to address poverty and social marginalisation.