MEC sets an eagle eye on children’s grant
Mtshweni had a blast with the children from Bushbuckridge with whom she sang and danced tirelessly.
“I officially launch the 2015 Child Protection Week,” these were the words from MEC for social development, Ms Nomsa Mtshweni.
Mtshweni had a blast with the children from Bushbuckridge with whom she sang and danced tirelessly.
She urged parents at Mapulaneng College of Education to take care of the children and to use the money they receive in the form of grants, for its intended purpose.
“Children are such precious gifts. We should cherish and take care of them. The money should be used to take care of them, as per initial purpose, it is not to be used for our own hair and nails.
Should we discover that this happens, we will take the necessary action against those parents. As the department we condemn such acts,” she said.
In her speech she mentioned that her department will embark on awareness campaigns to educate the communities on children’s acts, and to authenticate their Tfutfuka Uvikeleke programme.
“We are also concerned about the children who are living and begging on the streets. We want our children to develop and be protected in line with our slogan, Tfutfuka Uvikeleke.
Our government believes that protecting children and creating a safe and secure environment is everybody’s responsibility, hence the theme for the Child Protection Week campaign is translated to, ‘Working Together to Protect Children’,” she added.
The department has also highlighted that this year’s theme will shift its focus to men, in an effort to get them involved and help them understand their roles in protecting children and women.
“Our take as a department is that all family members play a key role in the care and protection of children.
However, we are well aware that generally it is the women who have stepped up to care and protect children.
In this regard our focus this year is on men and boys and their responsibility in ensuring that children and women are protected.
We have launched dialogues where we are urging men to have open discussions on what they see as their role on the care and protection of children and women.
We are also creating a platform where men and boys can openly communicate the obstacles that impede them from claiming their rightful place in families and communities.
This we did as part of observing International Family Day but as a province we realised that we need to intensify the engagements as much as possible to reach a large number of men and boys.”
The day was concluded with puppet shows, plays, and poems recited by the kids about their rights as children.
