Khulisa marks 25th anniversary of reinventing lives of marginalised communities

Joburgers, especially those from Alexandra, will be delighted to know that Khulisa Social Solutions will be celebrating 25 years of its work with marginalised communities against the backdrop of possibly being bestowed with an international award from the Canadian government.

A multi-award-winning non-profit organisation registered in 1997, Khulisa, which is IsiZulu for uplift, has been engrossed with the idea of reinventing the lives of marginalised communities in the country and will mark this milestone with a riveting celebration on October 26 at the Sandton Library, located at the Nelson Mandela Square.

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The event will be graced by celebrated South African singer and performer, PJ Powers aka ‘Thandeka’, who will provide one of her special performances. While the equally talented actress, motivational speaker, coach, and human rights activist Regina Mary Ndlovu, will take the helm as the event’s master of ceremonies.

Canadian criminological sciences expert Dr David Gustafson, who is an international authority on restorative justice, victim support, trauma recovery, resilience and social cohesion, will be one of the keynote speakers at the celebratory event.

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According to Lesley-Ann van Selm, founder and managing director of Khulisa Social Solutions, “Khulisa will use this monumental celebration to look back on the two and a half decades of working tirelessly to address social vulnerabilities and inequalities in communities by collaborating with other distinguished organisations in our network to demonstrate measurable social impact.”

Two decades ago, Khulisa started in South African prisons to support the rehabilitation of young offenders to become productive members of society, and the organisation then moved on to communities to address issues inhibiting sustainable development.

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Today, Khulisa actively partners with individuals and organisations that intend to make a difference in society, helping them to create virtuous circles of mutual support and development based on society’s interdependence and innate desire to give back.

“While the world continues to endure abject poverty because of insurmountable economic challenges leading to other social ills in our immediate communities, I believe as an organisation we have a lot to be proud of. There is still a lot of work ahead of us and we look forward to another twenty years of reinventing South Africa for the better,” van Selm concluded.

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