Working as a social auxiliary worker in the same area you live in, like Zinhle Manana and Duduzile Malinga, certainly has its challenges.
Everyone knows you and where you live. This means members of the community can reach out to you with their problems at any time because they know you have the ability and means to assist them.
But Manana and Malinga took this job knowing fully well the intricacies that come with it.
They are driven by their passion to help vulnerable children and create a safe space for them in Wattville.
I took this job so that I could help vulnerable children and anyone in need in our community. I always had the urge to lend a helping hand from a young age. I was motivated by what the things I saw as a child. I knew I was destined to help people, said Manana.
They offer psychosocial support services to children under the care of the Neo e Bonolo NPO at Isaac Makau Primary School. Together with the NPOs caregivers, they conduct house visits to the childrens homes to identify the daily issues they face.
After collecting the data, they assist where they can and then refer the difficult cases to social workers from the Department of Social Development, as well as psychologists, for counselling.
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They said child abuse and neglect are the main issues affecting children in Wattville, as well as GBV and the misuse of social grants by parents.
A lot of these children are victims of abuse and neglect. We found out that most go to school in torn and dirty clothes and hungry because their parents misuse their social grants, Manana said.
Despite their many successes in helping orphans and vulnerable children in the community, the downside of their job is getting victims of abuse to open up because of threats from the perpetrators.
Working with children is difficult because they cant speak for themselves. If someone does something to them and threatens to harm them if they tell anyone, they will keep quiet. Its our responsibility to probe and find out whats really going on with the children, said Malinga.
She called for more collaboration and urged parents to reach out to local NPOs if they are unable to fend for their children.
There are lots of services to assist children. If a parent is not coping with the pressure, they can always seek help from organisations such as Neo e Bonolo, Benoni Child Welfare and Kids Haven.
We also urge neighbours to report incidents of child abuse. You cant just keep quite when you see you neighbour abusing their child. If you see this, go to the police or come to us. Well take it further. We need to work together as a community to create a safe space for our children, she said.
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