Pretoria – The high rate of child abuse at the GaMothapo-Magowa village in Limpopo has prompted the MEC for Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Ishmael Kgetjepe, to spearhead an anti-child abuse campaign.
Over a period of 10 months, 11 boys from Ntji Mothapo Primary School in GaMothapo-Magowa have been sodomised, allegedly by the school’s security guard. A six-year-old girl from the same school was also raped by her father.
After realising the escalating cases of child abuse, three school principals from Ntji Mothapo Primary School, Gerson Ntji Secondary School and Madipuwane Secondary School in Ga-Mothapo asked Kgetjepe to intervene.
Kgetjepe and Child Line in Limpopo have formed a partnership to raise child abuse awareness. Kgetjepe will on Friday deliver a keynote address to highlight the importance of a society where its children are free from all sorts of abuse.
Themed ‘Child abuse is never so painful until it happens to your child. Don’t look away, act now by the supporting the campaign’, the event will be held at Ntji Mothapo Primary School.
The campaign aims to alert the community, parents and learners of what child abuse is, the impact of abuse on children, how to identify an abused child, what to do when a child discloses and where and how to report such cases.
“Government and society have a responsibility to do everything to protect children from people, including their parents, who hurt them,” said Kgetjepe. – SAnews.gov.za
