Francesca Villette
A ONE-STOP support haven for abused women and children has been established at the Saartjie Baartman Centre in Manenberg.
Officials from a number of government departments, including the police, justice and social development, will be stationed at the centre.
The R3.28 million Khuseleka One Stop Centre will provide services including trauma counselling and psychological support, referral and follow-up appointments to health care facilities and closer partnerships with police.
The Khuseleka model is a multi-sectoral approach being implemented by the Department of Social Development in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union under the Victim Empowerment Programme.
The Saartjie Baartman Centre previously worked as a collaboration of NGO’s offering shelter and assisted women through the process of recovery by getting them to facilities such as clinics, police stations and the courts.
The centre provides services to women from across Cape Town and as far as Stellenbosch.
Centre director Shaheema McLeod said the new partnership meant that all the support women needed to recover from a traumatic event and seek justice would be available.
McLeod added she and all the centre’s staff were excited about the new services it would offer to many women who suffered domestic and gender-based violence.
Since its establishment 16 years ago, the centre has assisted about 179 000 women and children.
“We will now be able to strengthen the support we are able to provide to women. Previously women had to travel to get to different departments that would offer them the services they required, whether it was medical or justice-related. Now they will receive all the services here,” she said.
Yesterday MEC for Social Development Albert Fritz launched the partnership, which includes the police, the Hawks, the National Prosecuting Authority, the South African State Security Agency, Business Against Crime and the provincial departments of community safety, education and health, and national departments of justice, correctional services and home affairs.
Aside from the R3.28 million, an additional R357 048 has been invested to improve security at the centre.
“The Khuseleka model aims to strengthen inter-sectoral collaboration and improve referral protocols by offering a continuum of services from key government departments and institutions to victims of crime and violence in one space,” Fritz said.
Regional justice head Hishaam Mohamed said the Justice Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS) in the province’s core function was to ensure an effective, speedy and holistic justice service to vulnerable groups and in particular, women and children.
The department will provide training to organisations assisting survivors at the centre in order to ensure that these services can be provided around the clock.