Fanele means necessary in Xhosa, Tsonga and Zulu, and the intention of the imprint is to allow us to publish books which are necessary stories to be told, but would not necessarily be published in a conventional publishing model.

Jacana believes that there are authors and organisations who have learnings to share – learnings that may otherwise be lost, so that organisations and individuals working in similar fields would have to re-invent the wheel. This model allows us to help with access to information and sharing of knowledge.

Fanele offers a service to NGOs, corporates and authors who have stories that need to be told and have a vested interest in making available to the general public. The model provides for up-front funding for the production and printing costs of a book, which Jacana markets and distributes, both through conventional channels (bookshops), and through the channels of conventions and workshops. Royalties are paid to the funders or authors, enabling them to recoup their costs over a period of time.
 
Current and past collaborators include the Centre for Conflict Resolution, People Opposing Women Abuse, Heinrich Boll Foundation, Oxfam GB, FARM-Africa, and Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA).
 
This is a wonderful way of celebrating the achievements and telling the stories of individual heroes and group struggles.

The model also allows funded organisations to produce a concrete end product which serves as a solid outcome for funders, providing tangible proof to them of the successful implementation of funding money, and achievement of funded goals. This is an excellent means of ensuring a tangible outcome for a funded project.

Books that have been produced under this model include The African Union and its Institutions, A Patented World? Privatisation of Life and Knowledge and To Have and To Hold: The Making of Same-sex Marriage in South Africa.