New child protection hotlines launch in Sandton and surrounds

Child Protection Hotline hopes to reach more children in need with the launch of its Bryanston, Rivonia and Woodmead hotlines.

October 13, 2022

Chanté Ho Hip 2 minutes read

Sandton Police Station's Captain Bheki Xulu, Child Protection Line's Danie van Loggerenberg and Warrant Office Cynthia Segoa will be working closely with the hotlines. Photo: Chanté Ho Hip

Child protection services are seen as the largest field of social work service delivery in South Africa.

In an effort to reach more children in need, the Child Protection Hotline continues to make strides in communities with the establishment of local hotlines aimed at offering a more hands-on service.

On September 26 the national hotline launched its Bryanston, Rivonia and Woodmead hotlines. While there was already a Sandton hotline, the team opted for a more suburb-specific approach to make sure that the needs of the community are being met.

According to founder Danie van Loggerenberg, the national hotline has a partnership with the City of Johannesburg to reach each and every corner of the municipality.

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“As such, we have taken our hotlines, like in this instance Sandton, and broken them down into smaller areas. For this area, we now also have Rivonia, Bryanston and Woodmead hotlines.”

He added that with the suburb-dedicated hotlines, operators are able to assist children, parents and teachers quickly and efficiently get them the help that they need, ranging from emergency care, law enforcement, or even just someone to talk to.

“It also continues our plan to make more and more numbers available to ensure children relate to at least the area they stay in or attend school, and make contact with the hotline if they do not feel that anyone (teacher, parent, etc) wants to help them.”

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Child protection was recently in the spotlight during the presentation of the 2022/2023 first quarter national crime statics.

Contact crimes such as; murder, attempted murder, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) against children (17 years and younger) showed significant increases in comparison to the same period in the previous year.

SAPS reported that between April and June 2022, 243 cases of murder (46.4% increase), 283 attempted murder (27.2% increase) and 1 670 assault GBH (58.4% increase) cases had been reported nationwide.

According to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund South Africa chief of communication and partnerships Toby Fricker, the statistics are not just shocking but they are individual, family and community tragedies that have extensive consequences on society.

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“We may not know each child, each woman personally but we should never accept such violence as a norm in society.

“We continue to be in a race against time to protect children and women’s lives. Unicef South Africa states once again that children cannot live their lives in fear, they have the right to be safe, cared for and nurtured at all times.”

Residents are encouraged to take note of the protection hotline numbers: