Children march in Mamelodi against child abuse
CHILDREN from Klapkorn Play Centre, as well as members of #NotInMyName Bafazi movement, and the area’s residents took to the streets of Mamelodi West to march against child abuse.
Klapkorn principal Sonti Maholwana said: “It is traumatising as a caregiver to see that a child is not happy or that something is seriously wrong at home.
“You suspect that the child might be getting abused, but the parents become so defensive they would rather take their child to another centre, where they won’t be questioned, than to deal with your suspicions.”
Maholwana said there were parents or guardians who protected perpetrators, some of whom they lived with, but were in denial and refused to accept that they could be abusing the children.
She said this was because those people helped them to pay the children’s daycare fees and maintain them.
“Normally, when we suspect that something is wrong with the child we inform social workers before the parents. In 2016, a woman disappeared after we alerted social workers to the fact that it seemed as though something was not right with her child.
“We often invite parents to awareness events at the centre, but this is the first time we take our plight to the streets.”
Proud
# NotInMyName Bafazi spokesperson Mo Senne said: “As the women of #NotInMyName, we are proud to be part of this initiative and to help create awareness about this problem in our society.
“These things happen and we need to realise how important it is to teach children from an early age to speak out when someone is doing something to them they shouldn’t do.”
Senne said the Bafazi wing wanted to help create sustainable, positive change in Mamelodi.