Pro Helvetia Cape Town has been mandated to manage funds made available by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The mandate stipulates that these funds should be used towards professional, contemporary arts and culture projects within Southern Africa.

A core focus of this mandate is to encourage exchange and collaboration in or between countries / regions within Southern Africa to produce the following outcomes:

1. building good administrative and organisational capacity in independent arts organisations in the region
2. stimulating high quality and a higher degree of contemporary professional arts in the region, thus enhancing its marketability and chances of survival / sustainability
3. organising more and stronger regional networks, helping artists to break out of their isolation regionally and internationally