Teddy Bear Foundation now has rooms at Booysens Magistrate’s Court

THE new state-of-the-art Booysens Magistrate’s Court, which officially opened its doors a few weeks ago in Oakdene, has incorporated two rooms for the Teddy Bear Foundation, which Dr Shaheda Omar, director of the foundation, is thrilled about.

“This is a huge plus for us and the fact that we didn’t approach the court, they invited us to have rooms here, will make a massive difference for families, children and the community within the region of this court. It also has a fully functional sexual offences court, one of only 84 in the country,” Omar added.

The court will cover cases which fall within the jurisdiction of Turffontein, Rosettenville, South Hills, Southdale, Chrisville, Linmeyer, Glenvista, Glenanda, Bassonia, Townsview, Mondeor, Suideroord and surrounding areas.

The court is user- and child-friendly with CCTV cameras and a separate entrance and exit for victims and perpetrators, which avoids secondary victimisation and trauma for the victims.

One of the two rooms provides a play area and the other room is suitable for court preparation for the victims with dress-up clothing to portray to the victims what each court official will be wearing in the “real” court on the day of the hearing.

Josline Nkoana, court preparation counsellor and social worker, meets the child (victim) one-on-one first, then on a Saturday a group of children will meet and go through activities to prepare them for court. Later the same day they will be taken into a “real” courtroom so they can familiarise themselves before the actual court hearing.

“It’s a very scary experience for a child to have to testify in court. With this in mind we try and fully prepare them for the day they will have to testify,” said Omar.

“If a child is very young, say from the age of two, they won’t sit in an open court but will be in a special child-friendly room with CCTV and an intermediary. This could be a teacher or a social worker and someone who can speak the same language as the child,” Omar added.

Looking at some of the surrounding areas where the court is situated, it will be accessible to communities who, in the past, have found it difficult to get to the court in Johannesburg, thus it’ll make a huge difference in this region.

A perfect world

“In a perfect world, a parent or caregiver of the victim would go to a police station and report the offence. If there’s a witness who saw exactly what happened to the child, this is a first prize and there will more than likely be a swifter conviction.

“In four regions (Johannesburg, Soweto, Diepsloot and Krugersdorp) we look at about 100 children every month just for court preparation and sadly, the numbers are increasing. Court preparation can assist in getting successful convictions and attribute to children being able to undergo a proper court preparation programme.

“As much as first prize is a conviction, we also look at giving a child healing and closure. Getting them to finish the unfinished business and a chance to tell their story,” Omar said.

“We are excited and rightly so because this is a flagship court and we are now able to reach out to the most vulnerable population – children,” Omar concluded.

If you have any concerns about abuse or neglect of a child call 011 484 4554.

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