Fun and impactful volunteering opportunities for pensioners in South Africa
- Lirette Louw Bezuidenhout
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands – one for helping yourself, the other for helping others”. These are not my wise words, but that of the late film and fashion icon, Audrey Hepburn.
Why volunteer?
We are still relatively new into 2026 and unless your life is filled to the brim with activities, it is often a period where we seek out new opportunities. This website is dedicated to scouting for discounts and volunteering offers a chance to:
give back;
share your knowledge;
feel appreciated / create a sense of purpose;
make new connections / friendships;
at almost no cost to yourself, apart from your time and maybe transport costs (depending on the type of volunteering you embark upon).
Types of volunteer opportunities in South Africa
Volunteering is well established in South Africa, whether it is coordinated by large non-profit organisations or at grassroots within communities. We will list and discuss some of the bigger organisations (some of them for profit) offering opportunities for volunteering in more detail below.
But you do not have to live in a big city or town to share your knowledge or time through volunteering. It could be as simple as asking your church to indicate volunteering needs within the church community or you could identify your own.
In the small Karoo town where my parents lived, my dad started a soup kitchen on a Sunday for children at risk. Come Christmas time he would seek out donations in the community for food baskets for families in need.
Volunteering your knowledge and expertise may also take the form of mentoring or giving business advice to those that come across your path. It need not necessarily be an act of signing up but could happen organically by being aware of the needs within your immediate surroundings. Places to enquire about volunteering is your local animal rescue centre, school or library.
List of volunteering opportunities ideally suited for pensioners
1) Sanccob (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds)
Sanccob is known to most of us for the incredible work they do to protect our critically endangered African penguins. Their broader mandate as a non-profit is to reverse the decline of seabird populations through the rescue, rehabilitation and release of ill, injured, abandoned and oiled seabirds.
Sanccob welcomes volunteers 365 days of the year! You must reside permanently in either the Western Cape or Eastern Cape where their centres are based. In the Western Cape they are located in Tableview and in Gqeberha at Cape Recife.
These are the tasks you can volunteer to assist with:
Sea bird rehabilitation, cleaning and feeding of birds
Driving / collecting seabirds
General maintenance and cleaning
Answering phones
Education / behind the scenes tours
Marketing and fundraising.
Sanccob’s website sets out all the details around volunteering and can be accessed here.
2) ForGood – connects people with causes
This is an online platform that hosts details of organisations actively seeking for volunteers. In short, they connect organisations in need of volunteers with volunteers seeking opportunities to give back the way they want.
They proclaim to offer a network of high quality, high impact and trustworthy causes located throughout the country at which to volunteer. A quick scan of the volunteering opportunities available at the time of writing this article all seemed to be very worthy causes aimed at making our country better.
It is an easy-to-use web interface where you can enter the kind of opportunity you are looking for and the area in which you would like to volunteer. Alternatively, scroll through the many options listed until something in your vicinity and falling in your area of interests pop up. They even offer online / remote volunteer opportunities. Browse their website to see what is is available in your area.
3) Wildlife Act – focused conservation
Wildlife Act is an organisation that monitors and protects wildlife in Southern Africa. They offer a volunteer programme especially geared for retirees up to the age of 70 (although they mention flexibility on this age limit provided that the volunteer is in good health). These opportunities are paid for by the volunteers, but allow for experiences that would not be accessible on a safari or general holiday experience.
They offer the following opportunities to retired volunteers:
Southern Drakensberg Conservation Project which involves extended hiking and physical activities (age restriction of 65, depending on fitness levels);
Marine Conservation Project in the Seychelles which is more physical;
Endangered Species Conservation in Zululand is reportedly their most popular choice amongst retirees with low physical demands. The only physical requirement is that you are able to climb on and off a high clearance vehicle.
Join the more than 2 million volunteers in South Africa
If you are willing and able and the benefits of volunteering appeal to you then I encourage you to seek out a volunteering opportunity in 2026. We love to hear from our pensionerspayless community, so do share with us details of your volunteering activities or opportunities.
Let me end as I started with a quote and this time from the all- wise Ghandi:
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”.
All the best
Lirette
Co-founder, PensionersPayLess!
Lirette is a co-founder of PensionersPayLess! and the heart behind its mission to help South Africa's over-55s enjoy life to the fullest. Backed by a Doctorate of Law and two master’s degrees, she combines legal know-how with a passion for practical advice. Lirette writes about topics that she believes will appeal to a wide audience and which mostly relate back to her personal experiences, be it making plans for retirement with her parents, balancing a household budget or enjoying a good meal or holiday.
