Over the past 12 months, the Khulisa School Holiday Programme has reached 1,404 children in high-risk communities across the West Rand, with detailed impact data from 647 participants aged 9–17. Alarmingly, 72% of these children reported witnessing crime in their communities—underscoring the harsh reality that many young people are growing up in environments defined by violence, instability, and risk.

In the latest SHIFT Magazine feature, Lesley Ann van Selm, founder of Khulisa Social Solutions, speaks to the kind of work most people don’t see.

The slow work. The difficult work. The work that doesn’t always make noise, but changes everything.

Recent stakeholder engagements and dialogue processes facilitated by Khulisa Social Solutions in Danielskuil and Postmasburg have revealed a clear and important truth: these are not communities lacking effort, resources, or commitment.

Over the past 2.5 years, two Northern Cape mining-linked towns — Danielskuil and Tsantsabane (Postmasburg) — have quietly become structured demonstration sites for prevention-led, technology-enabled ecosystem stabilisation within South Africa’s mining and renewable energy corridors.

In November 2025, Khulisa carried out a national staff wellness survey across Khulisa Social Solutions’ programmes and regional operations.

This report presents a consolidated body of narrative evidence and strategic learning generated through sustained community engagement in Postmasburg and Danielskuil between 2023 and 2025.

As South Africa concludes another year of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, new insights shared today at the Joburg Theatre reveal a vital truth: violence is not just physical — it is emotional, cultural, and often marked by persistent generational patterns of taboo and silence.

Something powerful happened in Wynberg last week. Over three days, from 3–5 December, a diverse group of government officials, social workers, community practitioners, and NGO partners came together for a Conflict Resolution and Mediation Training Programme run by Khulisa Social Solutions, the Society of Mediators (UK), and the Department of Social Development (DSD).

A groundbreaking mediation programme launching at the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court Training Centre from 3–5 December 2025 is set to change the way conflict is understood and resolved across Western Cape communities.

Communities across South Africa face intense and rapidly growing conflict caused by economic hardship, mistrust of policing structures, youth frustration, and unresolved trauma. These issues were clearly shown in two mediation dialogues organised by Khulisa Social Solutions and the Society of Mediators (SoM, UK) in Orange Farm and Wedela on 19 and 20 November.

Khulisa Social Solutions, in partnership with the internationally recognised Society of Mediators (SoM), is
launching a pioneering Community Conflict Mediation Training and Deployment Programme to equip
grassroots leaders with the skills to resolve conflicts at their source and actively promote social
cohesion.