Cops donate foods and clothes to orphanage
“Some of the children ran away from home because of violence and abuse. Let's break the silence and fight this scourge," she said
GA-MANOKE – In celebrating the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, the Burgersfort SAPS partnered with Limpopo’s Miss Teen finalist, Obakeng Kgwedi to handover food parcels and clothes to Kgakanyane Orphanage.
A ceremony was held at Manoke Home-based Care Centre on November 25 and was attended by local councillors, representatives of the royal house, community policing forum members, social workers, pastors and members of the SAPS.
The event coordinator, Const Victoria Maluleke said their station took the needs of disadvantaged children seriously. “Some of the children ran away from home because of violence and abuse. Let’s break the silence and fight this scourge,” she said.
Maluleke described the situation surrounding the sexual abuse of children as a “silent emergency” and called on church and community leaders to change the perpetual norm, as silence was no longer an option. She noted that recent figures indicated that many children were exposed to some form of sexual abuse.
“We deal with cases where they are raped and physically abused, and the families choose not to report it as the perpetrators are either uncles or fathers, who are the breadwinners of the household. We need to report all incidents as this is the only way to put a stop to it. People know about these things, but fail, for whatever reasons, to report it because they see it as taboo subjects,” Maluleke added.
The orphans also performed for the attendees. Ms Antoinette Mgiba, caretaker at Kgakanyane Orphanage, thanked the police for the donations.
“When I heard the Burgersfort SAPS was going to donate goodies to the orphans, I jumped for joy as I was stressing about their Christmas presents, ” she said.
Mgiba currently cares for 18 children. The boys reside at her family’s old house while she shares her current home with more than 11 girls.
She told the paper that sometimes they struggle to provide decent meals for the orphans and urged more sponsors to come forward.
