Khulisa Social Solutions has introduced an innovative AI-driven model to address increasing violence, trauma, and substance abuse in South African schools.

Despite billions spent on curbing crime, evidence of lasting change remains scarce. Khulisa’s new approach combines real-time artificial intelligence with lived experience to generate solutions directly from those most affected—learners, educators, and communities.

Piloted in the Western Cape and expanded to Gauteng, the model uses expressive art forms—poetry, murals, storytelling, music, drama, and digital narratives—to surface real challenges and guide action.

AI Meets Empathy

By analysing emotional themes and community expressions, Khulisa’s platform creates instant dashboards that alert schools and partners to urgent issues like bullying, GBV, and mental health risks.

Tools like Digital Storytelling Circles and Dialogue Quilts empower youth to lead change while helping NGOS and schools co-create targeted interventions.

Aligned with the Department of Social Development’s Tripartite Partnership Agreement (TPA), this scalable model blends tech with trauma-informed facilitation and real-time M&E.

Why It Works

Khulisa’s model stands out because it moves away from outdated, one-size-fits-all interventions. By gathering insights through expressive activities like art, drama, journaling, storytelling, and song, and analysing it with advanced AI, communities are seen and heard in real-time. This approach enables tailored responses that respect local realities and unlock long-term solutions.

Frontline staff and partner NGOS will receive training to utilise the tools and interpret the AI-generated data. Through dashboards and behavioral tracking, patterns such as increasing absenteeism, aggression, or disengagement are swiftly identified and addressed, preventing escalation.

The initiative’s holistic nature means it doesn’t stop at the school gate. Families, SAPS, clinics, ward councillors, and local leaders are brought into the fold. This cross-sector compact builds trust and drives systemic change.

Sustainability Through Data

All activities are designed with sustainability in mind. The data collected informs a learning system that refines programming, advocates for funding, and demonstrates impact to donors and decision-makers.

Because the model is adaptable, it can be applied in urban, peri-urban, or rural settings, ensuring no community is overlooked. As more data is collected, predictive insights will further enhance interventions, making it one of the most dynamic school and community response models currently available in South Africa.

Khulisa’s call to action is simple: fund solutions that work. Back the voices of those who live the reality daily and let AI help amplify their truth into measurable change.

Join the Movement

Khulisa calls on funders, CSI initiatives, and the government to expand this high-impact model throughout South Africa.

“This is more than an intervention—it’s a shift in how we build trust and drive systemic change,” says Lesley Ann van Selm, Managing Director.