Soweto ECDs blow whistle against child abuse
"The fact that we still have children that are killed in the safety of their own homes by their own parents tells us that something is amiss."
Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in Soweto embarked on a Child Protection Week walk to raise awareness about the rights and protection of children on Friday, June 2.
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The fun walk is commemorated in line with the annual Child Protection Week in South Africa between May 29 and June 5.
Fikile Poka, Chairperson of Meadowlands ECDs Forum said the event was to take a firm stand, through the peaceful walk against the heinous crimes against children in the country.
She added that the whistles given to each child was to sound the alarm to communities to pay attention.
“We are crying out from the shocking incidents that children are exposed to. The fact that we still have children that are killed in the safety of their own homes by their own parents tells us that something is amiss.
“That not enough is being done to protect children and their rights. We need to continuously make noise to say enough is enough.”
Volunteer Outreach Coordinator at Just Footprints Foundation, Riana Scheepers, said it was concerning that a high number of children were still victims of abuse and violence.
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“The environment that they are in, we don’t know what they go through. It is time that we recognise these little ones, because we don’t even see the barriers that they are putting up to protect themselves.
“They shouldn’t have to protect themselves, we are supposed to do that,” she said.
Scheepers, who has worked with the abused and abandoned children, youth and juveniles, said permanent solutions were needed that will ensure children are protected.
She added that talks to cut down the budget to Non-profit/Governmental Organisations that provide children services was a detrimental setback to achieving the desired outcomes.
“With them trying to shift the funding from NPO /NGOs and ECDs, that’s a major problem because how do you fight Gender-Based Violence, substance abuse, poverty, if you don’t work on the foundation.
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“The reality is that a child coming into these centres receives education, a plate of food, and care. When they go back to their family units, we don’t know what that is like but through the centres, we are able to identify those issues.
“But if the cut down happens, there is no hope and these kids will grow up with depression and high suicide so we are sitting on a ticking time bomb if that money is taken.”
Last week Minister of Police, Bheki Cele announced the quarter four crime statistics indicating a decrease in child murders by 19.9%.
Despite the reported decrease, 29 more children were victims of attempted murder compared to the same period last year, while 360 more attempted murder cases involving minors were investigated, Cele revealed.
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Brigadier Phumzile Zulu, SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offences Units (FCS) in Gauteng said the province alone was experiencing high volumes of cases where children are reported missing, with many found dead.
Zulu argued that in order for policies and strategies to yield results, parents and broader society needed to take collective responsibility in protecting children, as the police could not do it alone.
“Our analysis research shows that most of these kids are being neglected by their parents. They play in the parks unsupervised, as young as three years old.
“Parents are not taking care of their kids, and that is our call to parents, to urge them to take responsibility and care for their young ones in order to eliminate this surge of abuse and violent crimes against children,” she said.
