Elandsfontein satellite office to aid victims of crime

The Bedfordview Victim Empowerment Group successfully hosted the launch of its Elandsfontein satellite empowerment office at Sizwe Secondary School on February 17.

Supported by the Bedfordview CPF, the group has undertaken to provide trauma debriefing for the Elandsfontein community.

This is due to high crime rates and the lack of accessibility to help for victims of crime.

The launch drew many worthwhile stakeholders. Their key objective was to introduce the community to services and resources available to them.

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Colonel Sinothi Ndaba, acting station commander at the Bedfordview Police Station, stated: “Supporting the Elandsfontein community cannot be done by the police alone but rather a joint effort between all stakeholders.”
Residents were introduced to the value that each stakeholder can add.

“The response from the community was positive, interacting on a one-on-one basis with the role players,” said the event coordinator, Carolyn Williams.

The group’s volunteers mingled and introduced themselves, starting the process of developing a relationship of trust with the community.

“While the relevant stakeholders were speaking to the community members, the fantastic volunteers from Dare to Care were serving cups of soup and bread to the people. The music, soup and community brought an atmosphere of laughter and enjoyment.

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“Many of the stakeholders have already identified opportunities to support the school,” shared Williams.

Safercity has undertaken to assist the school with the accessing of the Safercity emergency app, at no cost.

The objective is to get all learners on the app, so they can report crimes, have access to their CPF and availability to emergency services in case of an emergency.

Stakeholders like Impilo, SADAG and Relation Alchemy have committed to building a relationship with the school to provide awareness around important subjects like suicide prevention, domestic violence, mental health and sex education.

Other stakeholders that were present and addressed the community on the day were Bedfordview SAPS GBV desk; Family, Children and Sexual Crimes (FCS); The Ekurhuleni Health District; Germiston Department of Social Development social workers; Living Waters; and the Department of Community and Safety.

Williams said this was the first step in providing support to the victims of crime in the area.

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Victim empowerment volunteers will be based at Sizwe Secondary School every Wednesday morning for trauma debriefing. Debriefing sessions will be done on an appointment basis only.

Nonhlanhla Makhoba will be facilitating the startup of the group and along with other volunteers will be doing the debriefing.

The objective is to ultimately get members of the community to be involved and trained as volunteers.
Should anyone be in need of counselling, they should contact the Victim Empowerment Group helpline on 076 474 2252.