Survivor empowerment drive held in Sammy Marks Square
The drive focused on the survivors of crime, survivors of depression, fighters of drugs as well as survivors of bullying.
Pretoria Central police held a “survivor empowerment drive” at Sammy Marks Square on Wednesday morning.
The police were in partnership with the Kopano Manyano centre, Hi-5 Online Stereo, Tshwane metro police, Tshwane emergency services and Gauteng Correctional Services.
The drive focused on the survivors of crime, depression, drugs, cancer and bullying.
Aaron Maepa, of the Kopano Manyano NGO, said communities needed to appreciate and acknowledge such survivors.
“As an organisation, we support crime victims although our specialty is gender-based violence. We have been partnering with the local police since 2001 and we offer our services to six police stations in Pretoria.”
He said the goal was to turn victims into survivors so they could tell their stories.
Bullying survivor Constable Thabang Nkhumise, from Pretoria Central police station, shared his story.
“I was bullied in high school because I associated myself with learners from the more disadvantaged sections from I was. It started small and escalated with time like it’s normally the case when it comes to bullying,” he told Rekord.
“As the teasing and bullying got worse, I decided to use a different route to school.”
Nkhumise said that didn’t stop the bullies from following him.
“One particular day, I was walking with a female friend of mine when we came across the same group. They told my friend to run and then started assaulting me; one guy even threw a brick at me.
“I immediately opened a case and the guys were arrested and pleaded guilty.”
Nkhumise said he dropped the charges after the boys apologised.
“I forgave them and luckily I had sporting activities to turn back to and didn’t really get affected.
“The community turned a blind eye though and that is still a problem today. Bullying is a problem, we usually ignore it until it’s too late.”
A positive voice gives you strength, said cancer survivor Andrina Nyavhani.
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. When I found out, I panicked. I didn’t know who to talk to because to some of us, cancer is not well known,” she said.
“I underwent chemotherapy and after six months, I was paralysed. It was one of my worst moments and felt weak but counselling helped and I was optimistic.”
Nyavhani hoped her experience would inspire other victims to also become survivors.
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