ORANGE FARM.- In marking child protection week, a number of Early Childhood Development centres (ECD) in Orange Farm took to the streets of Lakeside Extension on Friday morning.

The campaign which was supported by members of the SA Police Services, Emergency Management Service and Traffic Department sought to highly the plight that kids face on a daily basis.

Placards bearing messages such as ‘Enough is Enough, We need love and care, We have the right to learn’ to name just a few were the order of the day.

Lerato Duma, Chairperson of Every Child Matters ECD Forums which comprises of numerous crèches from different areas across region G says the objective is to educate the community to take care of the kids, elders and women.

“Furthermore, keeping children at home and locked is another form of abuse. Parents ought to know that kids need to attend crèche instead of being left in the care of their siblings especially during this period of covid-19 where children who attends primary schools fend for kids. We also understand that abuse does not only happen to females but males as well; we therefore encourage everyone to report any abuse to the relevant law enforcement agencies irrespective of the culture or belief,” she emphasised.

Recently, a number of child killings in Orange Farm have been on the rise which prompted an outcry from the community for authorities to take a stand.

Duma added, “We encounter a lot of challenges such as kidnapping and killing of kids. Most of the parents are no longer working as a result of covid-19 and this heavily relies on ECD’s. We humbly request the government to tighten sentencing for child abuse and rape. Cases must be followed up and justice must prevail.”