Big hearted sponsors honoured by national NGO

RUIMSIG – Good Samaritans who invested money and resources to better equip South Africa’s most recognised non-profit organisation (NGO) Matla a Bana, were hailed for their support on 7 February.

The organisation, aimed at raising awareness against child abuse, honoured its sponsors during their annual report-back meeting held at the refreshing Afrique Boutique Hotel in Ruimsig.

Monique Strydom, CEO of Matla a Bana, used the platform to thank all the sponsors for their continued support while giving their trustees the opportunity to report back on their finances.

She explained some of their success programmes during the 2015/6 financial year.

“Getting Conversation Going was one of the main focus areas of Matla a Bana this year. We partnered with various organisations to spread this message and one of the highlights was the first children’s rights international conference hosted by University of Johannesburg and University of South Africa as a direct result of the Getting Conversation Campaign,” she said.

Part of the successes also included the comfort pack project which catered for different parts of the country and a police skills training.

“We were able to train more than 150 detectives and commanders in various soft skills in Gauteng and Western Cape. [We] continued to assist [police] with certain needs pertaining to the investigation of cyber crimes where children were victims,” Strydom explained.

Major General Tebello Mosikili, national head of Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigation, commended the organisation for their contribution to the South African Police Services. “We started a partnership with Matla a Bana a few years ago. What they do is provide training for our FCS investigators and host awards to reward investigators that have done very well in their investigations,” she said.

She added that it is vital for police to have partnerships, especially, pertaining to family violence and child protection because police cannot investigate such cases on their own.

Matla a Bana hosts programmes such as awareness, prevention and victim support projects.

Details: 021 913 9107