Concerned parents, grandparents and young men and women from across rural Mpofana packed the Thendela Community Centre on Tuesday, May 29, for a child protection community dialogue. Speaking at the event, Nomkhosi Zungu, a social worker for Bruntville Community Health Centre (CHC), urged parents to be vigilant about the safety of their children at all times.

She warned parents to be on the lookout for any change in behaviour, as this could sometimes indicate that a child is being abused. “We need to trust our children! If your child or a toddler complains of, or informs you of an abusive incident, you need to act on that immediately.

“If your child is usually in a happy mood, but it changes, speak to them immediately. Ensure that you create a relationship of trust, where your child can speak to you about anything. This open dialogue can be helpful in terms of detecting things that go wrong.” She emphasised that parents need to take child abuse seriously and report it to the authorities as soon as possible.

“If your child informs you that s/he has been sexually molested, you need to act immediately and inform the police.
“Do not bathe the child as this will destroy the evidence,” said Mrs Zungu. She added that her office is always open for such cases to assist parents and the affected children.

“As a parent, you need to inform the child of the process that is going to take place. This is to keep the child calm and relaxed, as abuse can be very stressful for the young mind,” she said. Nomfundo Zulu, a mother, said she was delighted with the initiative at Thendela. “This is a great opportunity to be part of this dialogue, where we get to ask questions about the safety of our children.

“We appreciate this initiative because as parents we are faced with challenges, but do not know what to do. Today we have been empowered. We now know the dos and don’ts if our children fall victim to abuse. We hope this initiative carries on and gives a platform to discuss other issues, which concern the public.” The community dialogue was well-attended by concerned women and men. After the interaction the community was treated to fruit packs arranged by a social worker at Bruntville CHC.