West Fleur Hospital victim facility opened

When MAB undertook to help rape victims at Wes Fleur Hospital (Atlantis) earlier this year, we did not know that it was going to happen so fast! Securing a container and finding a sponsor has proven one of the most difficult challenges we have faced for many year. Until MAB was chosen as the beneficiary charity for Old Mutual and Media 24 on Mandela Day. 1000's of comfort and snack packs turned into a facility, when Media 24 agreed to sponsor the container and Old Mutual Foundation the furnishings and fittings.  The facility is truly a simbol of what can be done when companies support charities. This facility was opened on 13 December. It has a seperate waiting area and medical examination room for rape victims.

Thank you to Media 24 and Old Mutual Foundation for your great support!

Sponsors rewarded!

Monique & Collin Cullis (Cape Talk)

The WC MAB office hosted a breakfast at the Pinelands City Lodge for Cape Town sponsors who could not be at the AGM. These sponsors supported MAB during the 2011/12 financial year. Included in this group was two local radio stations, Cape Talk and Radio Tygerberg, who's combined sponsorship was more than R 100 000. Rotary Claremont sponsored more than R 200 000 during this period, and this funding was used to open Child Friendly Facilities in Khyalitsha and Milnerton. 

Thank you very much to Graham and his staff at Pinelands City Lodge for treating us all like kings and thank you to all our donors without whom we would not have been able to do the work!

Our first Mpumalanga facility!

MAB opened it's first Child Friendly Facility in Mpumalanga yesterday. This was done to the notes of the police band and great happiness from the FCS officers who was astounded with the new container. The two-room container is a full facility with assessment and a monitoring room and audio visual recording facilities. This project was made possibly by the generous support of Roman's Pizza and their "Wipe that smile on your face" project. MAB child-friendly reporting facilities can also be found in the Western Cape and Gauteng.

MAB opens facility on West Rand

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Roman's Pizza, MAB was able to open the yet another Child Friendly Facility. This time at the Krugersdorp Child Protection unit on the West Rand. Thanx to Bonnie and the Roman's Pizza team for your great support!

MAB AGM HOSTED

It was a wonderful reunion of sponsors and long time friends at the MAB Annual General Meeting for 2011/12 hosted on 6 Dec at Afrique Boutique in Johannesburg. A group of nearly 50 sponsors, faithbased groups, media and SAPS officers attended this event. Included in this group four SAPS generals!

During her CEO feedback, Monique Strydom thanked all for their loyal support without these projects could not have been done. Some of the highlights in this report are:

• The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the SAPS National Office
• Securing R 1.150 000 in non-monetary sponsorship
• And the assisting of 13 000 children in the last year. 

Guest speaker, General Magda Stander (Retired Deputy National Commissioner) entertained the audience with the challenges and funny moments of being a woman in the police. 

Major sponsors and supporters where also honoured with special certificates.

However the highlight of the day was a special birthday song by Marilyn Monroe, a green frog, the Beatles and the Chipmunks to MAB - who turned 10 years old this year!!

Ceres Opening

We had a great morning in Ceres with Roman's Pizza sponsor, Bonnie De Klerk and a surprise visit by General Lamoer. This special event was the opening of the child-friendly room at Ceres FCS unit. This unit is situated in a high risk area with a lot of abuse because of substance abuse.

“PUT THEIR FACES ON LAMP POSTS” SAYS TOP COP

“The faces of sexual offenders should be put on lamp posts”, were the words of WC Provincial Commissioner, General Arno Lamoer, at the opening of a child-friendly room in Ceres. He stated that the Western Cape has a “Hall of shame for drunken driving”, but it is more important to make the sexual offenders known to the public. Actioning a sexual offences register will also help in the fight against child abuse.

The opening of the Matla A Bana child-friendly room at Ceres Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit was one the many projects implemented Matla A Bana during the 16 Days of Activism of No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign during this week. This is one of the first facilities of its kind in the rural Western Cape countryside and the child-friendly assessment room will create a safe environment for children to disclose in and be assisted. According to General Lamoer, child abuse rates here are much higher than in the city, due to the excessive substance abuse in these areas. This is the ninth facility implemented by Matla A Bana in the Western Cape, with the last two being the victim room at Paarl Hospital and a reporting facility at Stellenbosch FCS unit, which was also launched this week.

“We must stop campaigning and live the lifestyle of making the world of women and children better”, Genl Lamoer challenged companies and charities, whilst applauding Matla A Bana for doing just that. He also challenged men in South Africa to stand up. According to him 98% of the perpetrators are men and it is time that men stand up, admit that they are abusers and say sorry. “How is it possible that an adult male can take off the nappy of a one year old child and rape her?”, is the kind of question he asks every day when he reads about these cases in his daily crime stats reports. Even though he is an experienced police officer, he is still sickened by what men do to children. He put action to his sentiments this year when he placed a special group, “Men for change” in charge of the SAPS 16 Days projects.

The Ceres FCS unit serves a vast rural community stretching as far as the Koue Bokkeveld on the one side and the Warm Bokkeveld on the other. This unit has some of the highest incidences of sexual offences against children in the Western Cape, but also some of the highest successes. The FCS units in the Western Cape were responsible for securing 39 life sentences this year against sexual perpetrators.

Matla A Bana was founded by ex-hostage, Monique Strydom, who applauded this special police unit for the work they are doing. Not only for arresting perpetrators, but for taking such special care of the child victims. The officers of the Ceres unit played an active part in creating the facility by doing the building alternations to create the room themselves. They were however strapped for funding to finish the facility and this is when Matla A Bana with the help of Roman’s Pizza stepped in. Matla A Bana will be opening an eight facility at Muizenberg FCS unit early in the New Year. This facility serves a large portion the Southern Suburbs.

Whilst the police and organisations like Matla A Bana, will work effortlessly to stop the abuse of children, this will only happen once men take responsibility. If you are a man and in a leadership position and would like to join the campaign to stop child abuse, you can contact Matla A Bana on matlapr@mweb.co.za

Stellenbosch CFF opened

We are very happy to announce the opening for the Child-friendly facility at Stellenbosch FCS unit. This is the first facility outside of Cape Town in the Western Cape. This facility has state-of-the-art recording equipment and two-way mirror. The murals in this facility was designed together with the forensic social worker so that it can be used in the assessment of the child. Brig Mentoor and his staff made all the sponsors feel very welcome and Roman's Pizzas treated us to some great pizzas!
This facility was also made possible by the sponsorship of Romans Pizza.

We would also like to thank all our other sponsors:
Timber Trade
Builders Express
Witzenberg Poles

Paarl Hospital Child Friendly upgrade

Matla A Bana WC yesterday showed off the upgrades done at Paarl Hospital. Members of the FCS unit, sponsors and media attended the event. The children's waiting room was made child-friendly with murals and kiddies furniture. The medical examination room where rape victims are examined were also made victim friendly. Thank you to Roman's Pizza who made this project possible!

Old Mutual staff care and share!

Today 6 Old Mutual staff members volunteered their time to help abused children. This group is based at the Old Mutual Hammanskraal and took part in the Old Mutual Share and Care Volunteer program. The funding received from Old Mutual helped to purchase all the kids furniture and goodies needed to upgrade the Themba FCS unit to be child-friendly. Massmart also donated a fridge towards this unit to secure that DNA evidence is kept at the right temperatures.

Kids helping kids - Paarl & Stellenbosch facilties

On Saturday a group of 14 consisting of MAB supporters and students from the Lalela Project painted the murals of two child-friendly. These facilities assist child-victims of rape and abuse. The first facility is at the Stellenbosch Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences and the second is the waiting area at Paarl Hospital. Lalela Project is an art project working with children in the informal settlements of Houtbay and Kommetjie. It was a wonderful experience to see how young people are reaching out to help the younger kids in need.

Both these projects are sponsored by Roman's Pizza as part of the "Wipe that smile on your face". All were ecstatic when they were treated to pizza for lunch, courtesy Stellenbosch Roman's Pizza. 

Blankets from Old Mutual

Renee Palmer, respresentative of Old Mutual Foundation, brought some warm smiles to the faces of the FCS commanders who was in Cape Town for training. She donated more than 100 blankets to the commanders, who will in turn hand it out to child victims. Thanx Renee and Old Mutual Foundation for your continued support!

Renee enjoying the warm blankets!

 

 

FCS Commanders receive DNA Training

On Friday, 9 November, 24 WC FCS Commanders, representing all the FCS Units in the Western Cape, received training in DNA, the importance of it and legislation related to it. The training was opened by Brig Makura, who showed off his DNA skills!

We would like to thank Vanessa and Renate from the DNA Project for inspiring our officer to service excellence.

Brig Makurha and Vanessa Lynch

Our supporters honoured!

Last night Matla A Bana finally managed to pin down two of our top supporters of 2011 to hand over their Child Protection Certificates. Jos Malherbe cycled from Cairo to Cape Town to raise funds and TTV Fluval gave a very large financial gift to MAB in Dec 2011. This is a time when funding is normally at it's lowest and child abuse at the highest. Thanx guys for supporting us!

CHILD SERIAL RAPIST GETS LIFE

Lawrence Gagu, who used his position as a dance teacher to rape young girls, received three life sentences in Khayelitsha court yesterday. We are proud of the SAPS detectives and members of the state prosecution, who put this predator behind bars.

(In March this year, MAB opened a Child Friendly Facility at Khayelitsha FCS and in May MAB hosted a training course for FCS detectives on the Investigation of Serial rape cases.)

CERES FCS CHILD FRIENDLY ROOM

 Before...

 After...

Our two volunteers, WO Boer and Hennie Aggenbag, taking a break...

Yesterday MAB WC manager, Monique Strydom, and pensioner volunteer, Hennie Aggenbag took a long drive to the countryside, to work on the Ceres FCS child-friendly room. MAB was inspired by the group of FCS detectives and members who raised funds to enclose a veranda so that they could create a room where children can feel safe. With the sponsorship help received from Roman's Pizza, MAB could assist by securing the facility, decorating the room and purchasing some assessment tools for the social worker. We would like to thank Cluster Commander, Col Vos for the great welcome and a very special thank you to WO Boer, who took his last day of leave to assist with the work.

SAPS Press Release

CHARITY RIDE : POLICEMAN RIDES 1 900 KM ON A YAMAHA TO RAISE FUNDS FOR ABUSED CHILDREN

He may not be a knight in shining armour, but Lieutenant Colonel Paul van Eeden could be described as a ”knight on a shining motor bike”.

Van Eeden, 41 years of age, currently performs duties at Human Resource Development in Gauteng, but previously spent eight (8) years attached to the Krugersdorp Child Protection Unit in Gauteng. There, while spending all his time investigating cases of child abuse, he vowed that no matter where he was stationed, he would always be involved in helping abused children.

Paul, through his duties, became familiar with a charity called Matla a Bana, which provided the Krugersdorp Child Protection Unit with child friendly facilities for child victims and their parents.

Although his duties are now different, Paul is an avid motor bike enthusiast and he decided to combine his two passions – motor bikes and helping children - and ride through all nine provinces in less than 24 hours to raise funds for the Matla a Bana charity.

To prepare himself for the challenge, Lt Col Van Eeden spent every weekend riding his Yamaha Fazer distances of about 400 km at a time. In order to raise enough money to pay for the bike’s maintenance and fuel, Van Eeden and his wife Lizelle prepared meals and sold them either in the form of takeaways or sit-down meals at their home. They were enthusiastically supported by family, friends and neighbours.

On Saturday 20 October 2012 he set off from Gauteng at 03:00, drove through all nine South African Provinces and eventually stopped in Kimberley to sleep for five hours before heading back home. Through a motor bike club, there were people on standby throughout the country to assist him should he run into any type of mechanical or other trouble, but it was smooth running all the way.

Paul raised R25 000 for the charity and he says that he will let them decide on how the money will be spent because he has the utmost trust in them. Matla a Bana assisted in raising funds by creating a facebook page for the project and arranging for radio interviews.

Says Van Eeden: “I am very passionate about assisting children who have been victims of abuse as I have personally experienced their suffering whilst an investigating officer. I did this project in my private capacity and I am proud to say that I biked through all 9 provinces in 21.5 hours. I will definitely do it again, it is a privilege to do charity work for the children of our country”.

Congratulations to Lt Col Van Eeden, he is an inspiration to us all. Perhaps next time we can arrange for his SAPS colleagues to support him along the route!

RACE OF HOPE UNDERWAY

The annual Race of Hope, hosted by Rays of Hope (Rosebank Union Church) is currently underway. This cycle race is hosted to raised funds for various charities, including MAB. The cyclists started at Clarens and is busy making their way to Johannesburg. Guess who is escorting them - our SUPERCOP, Paul Van Eeden! We hope all are having a great time on the road and thank you for helping us!

924 Challenge

Thank you to MAB SUPERCOP Paul Van Eeden (project manager Lizel's husband) for taking on the 924 Challenge. He took on 9 provinces in 24 hours on a motorbike. He raised more nearly R30 000 in cash donations and secured more than R40 000 in product donations! We are so proud of our special MAB police officer!

11 Year old wins for MAB

BURGER CRECHE RAPE

CAPE ARGUS STORY

BURGER STORY

BEELD STORY

VIR ’N GOEIE SAAK VAN HUL TROLLIE AF
Amanda Roestoff

Entoesiastiese inkopietrollie-renjaers spring weg vir die derde agtereenvolgende aanbieding van die inkopietrollieresies by Clearwater Mall. Die projek ten bate van liefdadigheid is deur die winkelsentrum en Roodepoort Tafelronde aangebied. Foto: NELIUS RADEMAN

Van oor die hele Wes-Rand het inkopietrollie-hardlopers verlede Sondag aangetree om aan die Tafelronde en Clearwater Mall in Roodepoort se jaarlikse inkopietrollieresies deel te neem.
Sowat 38 spanne het pret gehad met vanjaar se tema, “Hollywood Blockbusters”.
Dié projek is vanjaar vir die derde agtereenvolgende keer aangebied.
Geld wat met die projek ingesamel is gaan geskenk word aan Matla-a-bana, ’n kinderregte-organisasie, en die Gateway-gemeenskap.

R14 000 is vanjaar ingesamel, die grootste bedrag nóg sedert die ontstaan van die projek.
Deelnemers het R500 betaal om ’n span van vier lede in te skryf, wat om die beurt met ’n loods ’n roete van 2,8 km deur die parkeerterrein moes voltooi.

Danie Odendaal van die Tafelronde het gesê die winkelsentrum steun die projek elke jaar.
“Individue en sakeondernemings kan hiermee teruggee aan die gemeenskap,” het hy gesê.
“Dit is goed om te sien dat die gemeenskap nie net terugsit nie, maar betrokke raak by geleenthede soos hierdie,” het Lizel van Eeden, bemarkingsbeampte van Matla a Bana, gesê.
Dié organisasie gaan die geld onder meer gebruik om die Krugersdorp- en Roodepoort-polisiekantoor se kindervriendelike geriewe en traumakamers op te knap.

By die wegspringplek het die span van die Honeydew-polisiekantoor se blou ligte en sirene deelnemers in hul pasoppens gehad. Mandlachem het vier spanne ingeskryf, vir die tweede keer met die wentrofee weggestap én ’n derde plek behaal. Hul wenspan was die Ghost Riders, wie se loods, Gloria Taute (20), besoekers byna die skrik op die lyf gejaag het met haar Scream-masker.
Haar neef Aaron, ’n atleet, het die span gelei.“Ek hardloop al só van skooldae af,” het Aaron vertel nadat die span die afstand in minder as sewe en ’n half minute afgelê het.

Horizon Karate Centre het sewe waentjies ingeskryf en die prys vir die beste spangees ontvang, terwyl die Automark-span se uitbeelding van ’n sedanmotor die prys vir oorspronklikheid gekry het.
“Ons is oortuig volgende jaar gaan die trollieresies nóg groter wees,” het Odendaal gesê.

Comfort Packs Gauteng

Orlando FCS members -  Lieutenant Munyai & Warrant Officer Ramudzuli - collecting their packs.

Thank you to the Waterkloof Baptist Church who donated the goods and packed 550 comfort packs. These packs were donated to the SAPS FCS units of Sunnyside, Tembisa and Orlando who will give them to child abuse victims.

 

Trolley Race by kids for kids

Matla A Bana was represented in the annual Lions/Clearwater Mall trolley race, by a group of very excited kids (and for them running with a trolley was not a challenge). Thank you to beauty queens, Kayleigh Victor and Ghene Smith and the drivers, brothers Damien and Calvin De Gouveia for supporting our cause.

MAB GT INCENTIVE AWARDS

Rianette Leibowitz, Catherine Constantindes, Gen Norman Taioe & Lizel van Eden

At the second Incentive Awards for the year, we were proud to honour the following members:

Best Performers:

1st Officer Sergeant S Duister Tsakane FCS:

This member shows exceptional dedication, perseverance and investigation skills. She has had several complicated cases and received good sentences for the accused. Sgt Duister investigated a rape case of a young victim in Reigerpark and exceptional long hours to support the victim and to obtain witness statements. The trial was successful and the suspect sentenced to two life imprisonments and 10 years for indecent assault. Sgt Duister‘s commitment and hard work ensured that justice was served.
2nd - Warrant Officers: P.H. Botha and A.N.J.D. Nel of Sunnyside Cluster FCS:
They were assigned to an armed robbery and rape case. The armed suspect burgled the home and raped one female. The members traced the stolen cell phone in Melville with Sec 205 application and identified the suspect. DNA samples linked him to the rape and his fingerprints linked him to 16 other housebreaking cases. The suspect was denied bail he is an illegal immigrant from Lesotho. The case is on trial in September 2012. These members were thanked by the father of the victim and commended for their quick response and thorough investigation. These two members are always willing to help and are respected by the community and their colleagues.
Outstanding Achievements:

1 st. Constable Molefe of Moroka Cluster FCS:
The member investigated a serial rape case whereby several victims were raped by a suspect who was active around Avalon cemetery, Soweto. The modus operandi in all the cases was almost the same. Victims visited the cemetery where they were approached by one unknown black male; he introduced him as a security guard. He helped to clean the graves and escorted the victims to the railway station. On the way he assaulted the victims, robbed them and raped the female victims. Constable Molefe left no stone unturned to solve the case and ensured a fare trial. This takes exceptional detective skills to investigate, as it is always very traumatic for the victims. He ensured the following sentences:
17 life imprisonment sentences on the charge of rape and additional 162 years.

2nd. Constable Mekgwe Orlando Cluster FCS:
This member investigated several cases of rape, kidnapping and sexual assault. This dedicated detective has ensured many good convictions of life imprisonment and more. She is a persevering person and the community and her commander appreciate her hard work.
Best FCS Commander: Capt Mathikge of Garankuwa Cluster FCS was awarded for showing exceptional leadership skills in the fight against women and child abuse.
Best Unit: Garankuwa Cluster FCS for impacting a whole community through teamwork to ensure several life imprisonment sentences and always promoting the image of the FCS in their Cluster by serving and protecting the community.

Best FCS Officer: Lieutenant M R Ranthago of JHB CENTRAL FCS was assigned to a case of kidnapping, robbery and rape on a 16 year old girl. This girl was on a school excursion when the incident happened, which made this a high profile case. The officer was assigned to the case as it was withdrawn from the court roll. He ensured that the bail was opposed; the victim felt safe and was escorted to court to prevent intimidation. The officer even ensured the victim’s court attendance whilst he was on leave. The three suspects were sentenced to life imprisonment each on rape, five years on kidnapping each and 15 years on robbery. Lieutenant Ranthago has shown exceptional leadership, diligence and was also commended by the Public Prosecutor.
Service Excellence:
This special award is given to individuals who impacts the community and makes a difference in the lives of women and children.

Matla a Bana awarded Deputy National Commissioner Magda Stander for her assistance to ensure the establishment of an MOU between SAPS on a National level and Matla a Bana. She has also been instrumental in several of the country’s initiatives focussing on women and children.

Terry Volkwyn of LEAD SA has also been awarded for the positive impact she is making through LEAD SA, which focuses on rights, responsibilities and taking action to make our country safe for our women, children and other citizens.

Thank you to all our sponsors and supporters: Massmart, Clearwater Mall, Grayston Townlodge, Katherine str City Lodge, LEAP Training, Owitz Communications, Servamus, Alice Art Gallery, Rosebank Union Church, Roman’s Pizza and Rays of Hope.

MAB Projects in Finals

Two projects motivated by the Roman's Pizza Double Up Challenge and done by the community, reached the finals for the challenge. They are the comfort packs project done by Little Miss World (see below) and the comfort packs efforts by Old Mutual and Media 24. Hold thumbs for our two projects!

Miss Snow Queen sets example

Kayleigh Victor started hosting miss Snow Queen in 2011 as part of her charity work after winning Little miss World 2010 in Turkey. Last year the beneficary was CANSA and she raised over R 23 000 for them. She vowed that she would make this a yearly event and this year Miss Snow Queen was held on the 28th of July. She decided that Matla A Bana would be this years Beneficary. She asked all the models to bring along items to make up comfort packs for Matla a Bana. She made up over 350 complete comfort packs and got a lot of loose items aswell. Her modelling friends promised that although the competition is over they would still collect more items to make up even more packs. If you take into considiration that to make 1 pack cost about R 115.00 it amounts to a donation of about R 40,250. What makes this more remarkable is that Kayleigh just had her 12th birthday last month.

Mandela Day - After thought

Three days after celebrating Mandela Day, we are still suffering from blisters, stiff legs and sore backs - but all with big smiles! MAB was extremely blessed this year with great support from some of the biggest companies in South Africa.

Thank you to Media 24, Old Mutual, RamsayMedia for believing in us and what we do. Thank you for the thousands of comfort packs, snack packs and the unexpected container that was donated. Thank you to each and every staff member who packed and every member of the public who donated goods towards these drives. Thank you also to Spar for supporting.

Please know that these efforts will change the lives of thousands of abused children!

Mandela Day - Media 24

Staff at Media 24 offices nationwide and On the Dot packed 6000 snack packs for child abuse victims on Mandela Day. These packs were received by Matla A Bana, who handed it over to the SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences units. 

One great surprise of the day was the donation of a container to be used as an medical examination room for rape victims at West Fleur Hospital in Atlantis. 

MANDELA DAY - Old Mutual

OLD MUTUAL EMPLOYEES GIVE 67 MINUTES FOR MADIBA IN 2012!

Wednesday 18th July 2012. Presentation Room, Old Mutual Business School, Mutual Park, Pinelands, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. OLD MUTUAL EMPLOYEES GIVE 67 MINUTES FOR MADIBA IN 2012! Old Mutual Employees give 67 minutes of their time in honour of Nelson Mandela who celebrated his 94th birthday today, Wednesday 18th July 2012 at Mutual Park in Pinelands near Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. Employees spent time making, decorating, painting and packing special comfort packs for girls between the ages of 4 - 8 and 9 - 12 who have been abused. These comfort packs are given to Non Government Organization (NGO) Matla A Bana - A Voice Against Abuse. Matla A Bana is the only legally affiliated NGO to the South African Police Service who has a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU). Old Mutual Employees also spent time making emergency, waterproof sleeping bags for homeless and destitute people. The bags are made from newspaper and plastic. The day's events were hosted by The Old Mutual Foundation. Special Guests attending were Monique Strydom from Matla A Bana and Brigadier Joseph Makhura from the SAPS along with Helene Africa from Old Mutual.
PICTURE: MARK WESSELS. 18/07/2012. +27 (0)21 551 5527. +27 (0)78 222 8777.

Mandela Day - RamsayMedia

RamsayMedia’s ’67 minutes’ to benefit boy rape survivors

It’s hard to comprehend that an increasing number of rape survivors are boys under the age of 10. Yet the ordeal these youngsters have been through was top of mind for RamsayMedia staff when they put together comfort bags for Matla a Bana: A Voice against Child Abuse, for Mandela Day.

The NGO asked the media house to focus on this group when they bag facecloths, toothpaste and brushes, pencils and notebooks, juice, biscuits, underwear, balls – and teddy bears; some of the items intended to provide comfort to the young recipients as they go through the bewildering process of reporting the rape.

“The requests that we are getting from the SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences units show that the rape of young boys is becoming more of a problem every year,” commented Monique Strydom, national manager of Matla a Bana. “In one area the number is as high as 40%. What is even more shocking is that the average age of the perpetrator is coming down – at one of the units it is 12 years old, which is frightening!”

It is the third year RamsayMedia has adopted Matla a Bana for its Mandela Day initiative. Teams at the Cape Town and Sandton offices spent their ’67 minutes for Mandela Day’ assembling 275 packs for boys aged 4 – 8 and 9 – 12, which were handed over to Matla a Bana and SAPS representatives on Friday, 13 July.

The packs are a real comfort to the children and make it easier for them to open up to police about what they had gone through, said Strydom.

The staff raised almost R4 000 – an amount matched by the company – to buy the items for the comfort packs. The underwear was once again donated by Easywear, which has supported the initiative for the past three years.

TMO Reporter
Media Mecca

THANK YOU!

A very bit thank you to all the individuals and companies who so generously collected and donated items for our comfort pack project. We would not have made the target without you! A very special thank you to Marlene Mostert, who mobilised the whole Western Cape!

Matla a Bana would like to thank Massmart Holdings for the Donation of three fridges and playroom equipment to the value of R17 984.58. This donation will be used to equip the SAPS Provincial Office of the FCS unit in Gauteng and to create child-friendly reporting rooms at the Sunnyside FCS in Pretoria and the Krugersdorp FCS unit on the West Rand.

Watch this space for more news...!