KAREN WATKINS
Many children in Hout Bay are dropping out of school because adults are exploiting them, and this is why the Department of Social Development launched Child Protection Week there on Sunday.
So said Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu during the launch of the annual campaign against child abuse, at James House.
Speaking online to several hundred people, including representatives from various organisations tackling child abuse, Ms Zulu said her department would raise awareness of its community-based prevention and early intervention programme, Risiha (a Xitsonga word meaning resilience), to move orphaned and vulnerable children from vulnerability to resilience.
Cynthia Nyoni, the department’s deputy director of child abuse and neglect, said that through a national child-care and protection register they had seen a high level of sexual abuse, deliberate neglect and children falling victim to online predators.
“In Hout Bay, as much as drugs and alcohol abuse is common, children are also being exploited. There are adults who are employing these children to go and fish instead of attending school,” said Ms Nyoni.
Florence Clark, a recovering addict and mother of six, said some children could not go to school because they had no birth certificates. She pleaded with the Department of Home Affairs to come to Hout Bay and work hand in hand with NGOs to help children get these documents.
Ms Clark said one of her children attended James House, which, she said, was moulding youth to be future role models in the community.
“They teach parents to listen to their children,” she said.
Ms Clark said she had hoped to speak with Minister Zulu about problems in Hangberg. “There are so many issues involving drug and substance abuse. Coming out of addiction and being nearly 12 years sober, I know how difficult things can be, and our children deserve better.”
James House was established in 1986, initially as a feeding project for poor and vulnerable children in Hout Bay. It was named after the first child it helped. Today the organisation’s focus is on child-protection services and development programmes.
Sophia Nyoni, 19, from Imizamo Yethu, said James House had helped with her studies, and when her home had burnt down, it had supplied her family with food, blankets and basic necessities.
Likhona Sonamzi, 16, also from Imizamo Yethu, said she had been getting bad grades in 2019, especially in maths and English, but after attending extra classes at James House, she had passed her exams. “Many didn’t know why I come to James House, but they have taught me what I want to be in my life.”
Elihle Mali, 18, from Imizamo Yethu, said: “There are a lot of kids who are suffering due to drug and alcohol abuse, gender-based violence and negligence. As a community, we lack so much in terms of resources. And we are in need of rehab centres. I call on Home Affairs to visit our schools and be a helping hand to children whose parents are not present with ID applications.”
Bronwyn Moore, the founder of Community Cohesion, a non-profit helping to break cycles of violence, said it was special that Hout Bay had been chosen to launch this year’s Child Protection Week.
She said she had attended the launch to promote the work being done by Community Cohesion’s staff to assist rape victims at the Thuthuzela Care Centre at Victoria Hospital.
“This means that our psychological counsellor ensures that all victims receive support and counselling after the medico-legal aspect is done and that those services are provided closest to where the victim lives.”
To report abuse, contact Childline at 116 or 021 762 8198 or the Thuthuzela Care Centre at Victoria Hospital at 021 799 1235..
