BLKHLTH South Africa
Building health equity with Black youth in South Africa
Our mission is to realize health equity for Black youth in South Africa through creative, culturally resonant education, advocacy, and care.
South Africa’s youth are carrying a lot, often all at once: high unemployment and economic uncertainty, exposure to violence at home, school, and in their communities, and a persistent HIV burden that falls heavily on young people, especially young women. Add climate pressures and daily instability, and it is no surprise that many young people are also navigating a serious mental health toll in systems that are not always safe, supportive, or easy to access.
These realities are shaped by structural inequities, including the ongoing legacy of apartheid, poverty, gender inequality, stigma, and barriers to youth-friendly services and support.
BLKHLTH South Africa exists to meet this moment with care and cultural specificity. We partner with young people to build knowledge, power, and healing, and to strengthen pathways to care that are youth-centered, culturally grounded, and relevant to everyday life.
Program Overview
We deliver youth-centered health equity programs that blend community activations, creative storytelling, and leadership and advocacy development.
Our work focuses on sexual and reproductive health and rights, mental well-being and healing from violence, and improving access to health care and economic opportunity.
BLKHLTH South Africa
Centering culture, advancing health equity, and confronting systemic racism in South Africa.
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Community Health Events
We bring people together to connect with local health resources and spark community-led dialogue about the structural forces shaping health, including apartheid’s legacy, poverty, stigma, and gender-based inequity. Participants leave with practical tools and clear next steps toward health equity.
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Workshops & Training
We create learning spaces that are participatory, honest, and action-oriented. Our workshops help community members and the current and emerging health workforce understand how racism and intersectionality shape health, then move from insight to practice through leadership development and advocacy skills that support real systems change.
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Digital Health Campaigns & Storytelling
Through creative digital storytelling and health communications, we build awareness, shift narratives, and help make stigmatized topics easier to talk about. Our campaigns translate public health information into culturally resonant, shareable content that connects people to local resources and strengthens the movement for health justice in South Africa.
Our annual festival
The Link Up Johannesburg
BLKHLTH South Africa’s signature event brings the community together for care in a vibrant, culturally affirming space.
Attendees can access on-site health services, participate in meaningful workshops and discussions, all while experiencing music and art that build connection, healing, and momentum for health justice.
"One thing about Millenials and Gen Z is that we are a lot more open to talking about these issues, and what BLKHLTH has started in South Africa is now fostering a community. These kinds of events make living in Africa more enjoyable and more hopeful because we are getting resources. That’s just amazing.”
Mokgethwa Moraka, Attendee of The Link Up Johannesburg
Our Team
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Paulah Wheeler, MPH
Managing Director of BLKHLTH South Africa
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Mbali Shongwe
Program Manager
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Felicity Noge
Social and Communications Manager
