Khulumani was founded in 1995 by women survivors of apartheid’s gross human rights violations at a time when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa was being debated in Parliament without input from or consultation with victims and survivors. During this time, Khulumani did major outreach to communities to alert them about the coming TRC processes with its promises of redress for the political crimes of the past. Khulumani developed community-based, victim-driven transitional justice processes aimed at restoring the dignity and agency of all who had been harmed by the crimes of the past.

Today, the organization continues this mission by working toward an inclusive, just, and peaceful society in which the dignity of people harmed by gross violation of human rights is restored through 1) sustained advocacy for social justice and human rights; 2) community narrative and documentation processes; 3) social reconciliation processes; 4) the economic reintegration of victims and survivors; and through 5) developing learning communities to provide health, psycho-social, socio-economic, and paralegal services.