You can’t try and fix South Africa’s socio-economic issues in a bubble. Everything is interlinked, and it all starts with the community, we need a holistic approach!
South Africa (29 June 2022) – To promote social cohesion in South Africa, we must first deal with the fundamental inequality and social challenges that plague our society. And the only way to do that is through a holistic approach that includes communities, a network of NGOs, the private sector and the government working together, says the founder of NPO Khulisa Social Solutions.
Many existing upliftment programmes fail or don’t have the desired impact because they compartmentalise problems and attempt to address single issues. The only sustainable way to empower vulnerable children, youth, and marginalised communities is to drive widescale change through a multi-stakeholder and inter-sectoral approach, says Lesley-Ann van Selm, the founder and MD of Khulisa.
A prime example of this approach is in Johannesburg’s Alexandra township, where Khulisa has been active for over 20 years across numerous programmes. These include having a social worker, Nomusa Hlongwa, based at the Alexandra magistrate’s court, where she is involved in diversion work with young people in conflict with the law.
And when looting tore through the township during the 2021 civil unrest, Khulisa set up peace dialogues within days to help the community come to grips with the violence. By bringing together the looters, parents, victims and others impacted by the violence, the community could understand what happened and begin a process of healing.
“You can’t try and fix South Africa’s socio-economic issues in a bubble. You can’t simply give young people skills training without giving them the means to get to work. Creating a community crafts project without providing a platform to sell the goods is no use. You can’t put computers in a school without first ensuring the learner’s nutritional needs are met. Or run GBV awareness campaigns without putting in place support structures for the vulnerable. Everything is interlinked, and it all starts with the community,” says Van Selm.
Khulisa was launched 25 years ago with an initial focus of implementing South Africa’s first official rehabilitation programme, targeted at young offenders. Today, it has expanded its activities to holistic community development, tackling a wide range of issues and working to improve social and economic inclusion. The NPO employs more than 180 staff in 16 offices, works in around 150 communities with 350 NGO partners, and impacts the lives of close to 100,000 people annually. It has also started an operation in the UK.
For the past five years, it has been running a programme called ‘Communities of Opportunity’ in six provinces. Communities of Opportunity are places where all South Africans – regardless of income, level of education, age, gender, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation – can thrive safely, benefit from economic opportunities, and enjoy a strong culture of connectedness and self-empowerment.
Van Selm says any community-based programme should be built around peace-making and restorative justice. During the height of the pandemic, while most responses in marginalised communities focused on delivering food parcels, Khulisa pioneered a family peace-making programme for vulnerable individuals and communities in seven provinces. The project saw trained field workers help at-risk people and families living in the same households build and maintain peace during the lockdown and beyond.
Previously, it created the Justice and Restoration Project (JARP) in communities like Mitchells Plain and Orange Farm to create a more integrated, expeditious, cost-efficient and effective form of justice. The project used restorative justice, alternative dispute resolution and mediation to ease the burden on courts, schools and the SAPS and reduce reoffending by focusing resources on the root causes of crime.
“We launched the first community-based mediation programmes to police stations, courts and schools as far back as 2006. Since then, we’ve seen about 15 000 cases successfully completed, with an average victim satisfaction of 81% and strongly reduced recidivism. The point is that we should focus on the needs of victims, offenders and the community instead of viewing crimes as wrongdoing against the state. By empowering the victim and reducing the harmful effects of the offender’s actions, we’re able to heal far quicker and move forward positively,” says Van Selm.
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