Child protection march in Lavender Hill

The New World Foundation (NWF), in collaboration with other community stakeholders, hosted a child protection march, aiming to promote collaborative efforts, on Thursday, June 5, 

Erica Jacobs, director of NWF said the march coincided with National Child Protection commemorative week (Thursday May 29 to Thursday June 5). Aiming to end violence against children this event was a fitting platform for children to take centre stage and through their poetry, dance and drummies, to voice their concerns, supported by stakeholders, parents, carers and other members of the community,” said Ms Jacobs.

The event, driven by the NWF Drop-In Centre, created an opportunity for children and youth to “amplify their safety concerns and how vulnerable they feel living in a context marred by violence and fear,” said Mr Jacobs.

The initiative brought together NWF, the local primary schools in Lavender Hill, including Zerilda Park, Hillwood, Levana, and Prince George and community service providers including Rise Above Development (RAD), Steenberg Community Police Forum (CPF) and Childline. 

Schools and organisations serve as sanctuaries in an otherwise unsafe context. “However, with the growing safety concerns, children fear going to and from school; they and their caregivers often cannot access services because of the unpredictable nature of crime and violence, risking being caught in crossfire, leaving them in a constant state of trauma.

“This results in the direct violation of children's rights to access spaces for education and safety, and ultimately has a bearing on poor educational outcomes in the community. In a context of heightened community-wide trauma, violence in the home, bullying and other forms of abuse become normalised,” said Ms Jacobs.

The voices of the children and the community were heard through their chant: ‘jou kind is my kind’, ‘children matter’, ‘keep our children safe from harm’, ‘no more silence and stop the violence’.

The children handed over a memorandum to Jaco Londt, minister of Social Development and  Lieutenant Colonel Delmore Manuel, the Steenberg station commander.

Ms Jacobs said children living in Lavender Hill “live under the shadow of violence, and they deserve urgent, sustained, and compassionate action from their government and from the adults in the community. Through the initiative of child protection, the community stakeholders pledged to amplify the voices of children of Lavender Hill, standing in solidarity in an outcry for safety to ensure that children not only survive but reach their potential and thrive.”

Colonel Manuel said the event was well supported. When asked what SAPS's role was in protecting the children, he said, “Our involvement is ongoing. We have a social crime officer and a sector manager who have various skills programmes running at schools. Our visibility will increase in the areas where there is gang activity.”

Colonel Manuel said: "We are getting extra deployment. Our community leaders are engaging in different groupings or gangs and I regularly meet with our community police forum to discuss issues of crime.”

Colonel Manual said: “We are trying to focus on what’s happening in a child’s life, especially when they do not have their parents around. We will try to reiterate the family values. Our main focus is to keep the children safe and that they must be able to identify someone that they can trust,” said Colonel Manuel.