Another significant success to note is that over the past year, Khulisa has conducted a dialogue circle with volunteers such as the cleaners of the Jukskei River, the homeless, government officials, corporates, and other NGOs across the country, covering topics such as anti-social behaviour among boys, awareness and self-awareness, bereavement, bullying, conflict, coping with life challenges, crime and crime awareness, depression, discrimination, education, environmental issues, financial constraints, future dreams and goals, GBV, gender roles, LGBTQIA+ acceptance, healing, lack of support and opportunities, living conditions, mental health, parenting, parental challenges, parent-child conflict, and single-parenthood, peace-making, peer pressure, reintegration of ex-offenders, relationships and relationship conflict, stigmatisation, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, trauma, unhealed wounds, violence, and unemployment.   Through these engagements, we have noted a demand for further training to introduce this initiative into all sectors of communities to diffuse anger, address inequalities and provide people with an opportunity to be heard.  

Undoubtedly, dialogue is crucial to promoting social cohesion in marginalised communities because it allows community members to share their perspectives, experiences, and concerns in a safe and respectful environment. By engaging in dialogue, people can develop a better understanding of different viewpoints and build empathy and trust with one another. This can help to bridge divides and reduce tensions within the community, leading to greater social cohesion.

In communities where significant conflict and inequality exist, dialogue can help address underlying issues and identify shared goals and values. By bringing together people from different backgrounds and perspectives, dialogue can help to build a sense of common purpose and foster collaboration toward a shared vision for the community.

Dialogue can provide a platform for marginalised and diverse voices to be heard and for community members to work together to address systemic barriers to social, economic, and political equality. By opening channels of communication and providing opportunities for meaningful participation, dialogue can empower community members to take collective action and advocate for change.  Dialogue is an essential tool for promoting social cohesion in poor communities where conflict and inequality exist. It can help to build trust, understanding, and collaboration among community members, and provide a pathway toward creating a more just and equitable society.

Another notable advantage is that this form of intervention presents a viable form of income generation for trained NGO representatives to become agents of change in their communities by rendering dialogue circles, whilst simultaneously providing healing and cohesion between previously conflictual groups.

Simultaneously through Khulisa’s Monitoring and Evaluation unit, we are in the process of ‘banking’ a wealth of data specific to multiple factors that are providing us with valuable insights into how we can present to all sectors of society within the local ecology of the community with cross-sectoral programmes that will not only promote social cohesion that will address issues on promoting social cohesion.   

Collectively, the NGOs have rolled out approximately 119 dialogue circles reaching an average of 917 people, targeting a range of diverse individuals, such as children and youth, parents, people living with disabilities and their family members, survivors of crime, formerly incarcerated offenders, people recovering from drug addiction, and women cleaning the Jukskei River. An overwhelming 100% of NGO members stated that the training enhanced the quality of their services and offered them the opportunity to assist other community-based entities, for example ADAPT, Alex Youth Team, ANGOF, churches, ECD centres, and victims of violence. 

In several cases, the beneficiaries have also master-trained other entities in several provinces with Khulisa’s methodology. Furthermore, there is a need for additional training to broaden their range of restorative justice methodologies and in collaboration with Khulisa, to expand the scope of peace-making within their communities which will lead to enhanced financial sustainability as professional fees will be levied. Finally, as the intensity of dialogue circles increases, there has been a unanimous call for social workers and counselling services to assist with the increased complexity of nature.