30 May 2025, saw the Ekurhuleni Clinical Forensic Medical services mark Child Protection Week, themed “working together in ending violence against children”. The week of awareness was ushered in by civil society organisations, activism groups and individuals with a walk which started at Bertha Gxowa Care Care, traversed through Dukathole taxi rank and ended at the Germiston police station.
Placards and songs, and loud hailers during the walk sparked a call to action and spoke to the increasingly urgent need to fight against the national crisis of GBV in South Africa, whose figures in national statistics are disjointed just as they are unique. According to the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) first national study of GBV 33.1% of all women in the country 18 years and older have been victims of physical violence. A dire state of affairs for people that are expected to all protect those they have birthed.
Department of Social Development, Chairperson of the Men’s Forum Chief Mlangeni, said that it is about time that men of this country start proactively engaging with this issue to show and prove that not all men are trash. “We are here to sensitise the men in effort to change their mindsets from the beating and killing of women.” He emphasized that there is help for men than need psychosocial support and counselling especially those that are broken and keep perpetuating negative cycles of abuse. “We encourage men to seek help, we don’t want a society led by broken men.” He encouraged men to join the Department of Social Development Men’s Forum in their area.
Brigadier Shezi, Station Commander of the Germiston Police Station asserting the importance of child protection said that people need to understand that children’s rights are not only a responsibility “but it is a fundamental right to be protected and ensured by all the role players.” She emphasised that it’s important to sensitise in such matters not only during campaigns, but also every day of the week so that children heard and understood. “Children need to be protected and guided.” She added that “children are just like a blank disc of a computer, upon which we have to load information that will also ensure their own safety in society.”
At the Dukathole Taxi Rank, Nomadlozi Nkosi MMC of Developmental Planning and Real estate addressing the meeting which gathered made a call to action saying that beyond the call of having perpetrators feel the full might of the law through justice and recourse, she added that it is also up to males to hold each other accountable against GBV crimes. “Let us see them in action. They can’t continue to say not in their name but be unable to act against the same males that are doing wrong things. They must also make sure that they come up with workshops to address those that objectify women and vulnerable groups as objects to abused.”
Matilda Lesufi, Ekupholeni Foundation, Social Worker, Matilda Lesufi, said that stopping child neglected and abuse should be a daily activity .She encouraged counselling for all victims and perpetrators, because in the work they do they realise that most of the abuses are a spillover of the environment at home.
Brigadier Shezi shared some tips on what to notice as signs of a child being abused, saying that :
Isolation, and increased violence from a child are some of the things one must notice. She also pleaded with mothers to avoid abnegating their responsibility to caregivers and ensure that they take onus to also bath their young children at least once a week so that if the child has been abused then they can spot this through their child’s sensitivity.
Numbers to call for more assistance are as follows:
DSD Men’s Forum: Chief Mlangeni 079 525 0320
Anonymous Reporting of Child Abuse Crimes :
Brigadier Shezi 079 525 0320
