Who is Sinani

Sinani is a Nguni (in IsiZulu) word which means “we are with you”. We started  our life as an organisation back in July 1994 and were registered as KwaZulu-Natal Programme for Survivors of Violence (PSV). We are also celebrating 20 years of our existence the same year as South Africa celebrates 20 years of Democracy. The enabling environment ushered in by the democratic rule enabled Sinani to work under 'better' conditions compared to how civil society operated prior to SA's democratic government.

Our work since inception have also ensured that Sinani contributes to the foundations of democracy by ensuring that there was greater peace and co-existence in communities where violence was a predominant way of dealing with political, inter-group and even domestic differences.

 Working with victims and perpetrators of violence has been part of our work since the organisation's foundation. Through our strong group-based facilitation process, we have strengthened communities' abilities to handle conflicts peacefully, to mitigate negative outcomes of AIDS deaths and preventing the spread of HIV. More communities have started their own community based organisations (CBOs) who are dealing with the ever increasing levels of poverty.

Sinani celebrates 20 years with pride because communities where we worked in the last 20 years are in a better place compared to when we intervened but we still have a long way to go!