[4] The institute is organised under four research programmes in the fields of 'Foreign Policy', 'African Governance and Diplomacy', 'Economic Resilience and Inclusion', and 'Climate and Natural Resources'.

Since 1993, SAIIA has published the quarterly, peer-reviewed South African Journal of Foreign Affairs through Routledge of Taylor & Francis, along with monographs, policy papers and opinion pieces.

Between 1934 and 1983, the institute opened branch offices in all major South African cities, as well as Namibia and the United Kingdom.

Between 1996 and 2005, the institute was led by Greg Mills as national director and began working closely with diplomatic missions in South Africa as strategic partners.

[11] As an independent institute, SAIIA is funded primarily through external donors, which include the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the United States Agency for International Development, Chatham House, Southern Africa Trust, Terre des Hommes, the European Union, the Embassy of Finland, Ekurhuleni Municipality, the Gauteng Provincial Government, and the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.