The Community Chest of the Western Cape has committed R150 000 in funding to facilitate a concerted, collaborative effort by childcare organisations and roleplayers against disturbingly high levels of child abuse and murder in the province.
This emerged from a forum held at St George’s Cathedral on Friday, where around 60 NGOs gathered to discuss crime against the province’s children.
It gave these organisations a platform to voice their concerns, as well as to offer solutions for a spate of violence that has been described as “tragic, sad and absolutely horrendous”.
According to reports, at least 21 children have been killed in the Western Cape since the beginning of the year.
The Community Chest invited the childcare organisations, NGOs and other role players to join a 20-member steering group that will drive the collaborative initiative.
Community Chest chief executive Lorenzo Davids said the first step would be to begin the process of mobilising resources to advance child protection. He appealed to other funders to join them.
“Today we have to begin to spearhead the widest possible collaboration of all interested parties - across organisational, political and religious lines - in the interest of the protection of our children. The aim is to distil what we’ve discussed here today into a sensible and direct strategy.” Davids said this process had to be led by people on the ground who were passionate about the issue.
“Justice, the police, social development and health authorities are all key players in this process,” he said.
The director of the Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture, Valdi van Reenen-le Roux, said her organisation would continue to lobby for the provincial government to launch a commission of inquiry into the violence against children in the province.
“Pulling together these loose ends, a commission of enquiry would give the various role players and structures a space to talk about the problems and causes,” Van Reenen-le Roux said.