The Riet Family Guidance Centre in the Randfontein CBD is in dire need of assistance from the public since the Department of Social Development allegedly stopped their funding in January this year.
Lelanie Janse van Rensburg and her husband Johan is temporally managing the centre since the Executive Director of Riet Family Guidance Centre, Ivan Kortjie, is in Cape Town at his other branch.
We started battling in January this year when we stopped receiving funding from the Department of Social Development,” Lelanie said.
It’s said the situation at the centre has gotten so bad, they can not take in any new cases of women and children that has been abused. At the moment there are 13 residents living on the property.
Before this they had social workers and psychologists working with the abused women and children, but since funding stopped, they can no longer afford them. The centre would normally supply food, clothes, transport and toiletries to these families, but since the funding stopped, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel just to feed everyone.
“The community also used to help us a lot but we have very few donations coming in.
I don’t know if they think we have closed down,” Johan said.
Kortjie said, “I am currently in talks with the Department of Social Development, but our centre is suffering a lot everyday. We have been going for the past 15 years and it is terrible that we now need to turn away woman in need.”
Riet Family Guidance Centre wants to ask the community for any kind of help. Donations, food, clothes and toiletries would be greatly appreciated.
• Details: Johan or Lelanie on 071 286 6171 or 079 225 9863.
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