Anti human trafficking organisation aims to create awareness
FERNDALE– Business man Ron Govender founded FreeTHEM initiative to help and educate the disadvantaged.
Human trafficking is a phenomenon that plagues a number of countries around the world when innocent women and children are targeted as involuntary sex slaves.
Founder of Free Trafficked Humans Enslaved Mercilessly (THEM), Ron Govender established an organisation in an effort to create awareness about human trafficking in South Africa. The organisation also has a feeding scheme that is targeted at informal settlements and certain communities where human trafficking is rife.
Govender established the organisation in Ferndale in 2012 and registered it as an NGO last year as an anti-trafficking initiative after he assisted a girl who was kidnapped and asked for his help. “I was at the traffic light when a girl approached my window and asked for help. She looked vulnerable and terrified,” he said. He gave her a lift, and the girl later thanked him for saving her life.
He later attended a talk on human trafficking by Resha Mehta from the International Organisation for Migration. This further inspired him to establish his own organisation to assist victims, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“I decided to create feeding schemes with a small group of my friends and to spread awareness about human trafficking where it is rife among disadvantaged communities who fall prey to it,” Govender said.
The NGO travels to different informal settlements in the north, south and west parts of Gauteng almost every weekend and operates from the trunks of their cars.
Govender also writes and composes music. He compiled a song with the assistance of artists such as Dawny Pool, Henry Philmon and Rob Taylor. The song, which is still being developed, is to create awareness about the scourge of human trafficking of women and children and what people can do to help.
“Our vision is to have millions of partners in the future around Africa and around the world involved in our initiative. The more people who are involved, the more can be done to eradicate the problem,” he said.
Govender encourages the public to make the means to get involved in the Free THEM initiative and make a difference as it is our moral duty or a divine mandate that exists in all of us.
Details: Founder of Free THEM Ron Govender 084 326 4986.
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