Monique Strydom leads powerful Mandela Day child protection initiative on South Coast
Volunteers pack hope for abused children in Mandela Day outreach.
Neither the cold nor the rain could keep them away – more than 40 volunteers gathered at the Ramsgate Lions Club recently.
Driven by a powerful mission: to bring comfort and hope to young girls who have survived rape and sexual abuse, it was a day of tears, courage and healing; and one led by someone who knows trauma all too well.
Monique Strydom, best-selling author, motivational speaker and founder of the award-winning non-governmental organisation Matla A Bana – A Voice Against Child Abuse – stood at the heart of the gathering, helping pack 100 comfort kits destined for KwaZulu-Natal’s Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units. It was the first time the packs, filled with essential items for child survivors, were assembled on the KZN South Coast.
Strydom’s own story is one of survival and transformation. In 2000, she made international headlines when she and her husband were kidnapped by Al Qaeda militants in the Philippines.
Held hostage for four harrowing months, she returned home with a renewed purpose, to protect the most vulnerable.
The initiative, hosted in partnership with the Ramsgate Lions Club and supported by the Ramsgate Community Police Forum, formed part of a Mandela Day outreach.
Volunteers packed each bag with care – including soap, snacks, a toothbrush, colouring book, new underwear, tissues, and a soft toy – each item chosen to ease the trauma during the first hours of reporting abuse.
Strydom stressed the real impact these packs have on the criminal justice process.
“It’s overwhelming to realise that 100 packs will only last about three days. But each one helps a child. When we reduce their trauma, they are more able to give strong, clear statements. That means more convictions, and more dangerous criminals off our streets.”
The packs were handed over to Saps commanders from the Margate and Port Shepstone FCS units. Captain Nivi Lutchminarain, commander of Margate Saps FCS praised Matla A Bana’s ongoing support, calling the partnership ‘invaluable to frontline officers and survivors alike’.
Matla A Bana, which was recently able to open its first KZN office in Ramsgate, is already planning its next steps.
The NGO also aims to upgrade the FCS victim support rooms in Margate and Port Shepstone and provide specialised trauma training to 20 detectives in the area.
“KwaZulu-Natal has some of the highest child rape statistics in the country, yet getting funding for this region remains a massive challenge,” said Strydom.
“But every one of these volunteers, every donated pack, every brave little girl we help – it all adds up to something bigger. Change is not only possible, it’s already happening.”
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