Andries Ferreira from Mad Rage Against Child Abuse says the programme, which has been certified, is called the Rhino and Elephant programme and trains adults in schools to recognise symptoms of abuse in children.
“It’s an awareness campaign for adults and parents of school children,” he says.
“The aim is to identify and select three adults or teachers in each school with whom children are comfortable.”
The programme then selects these people and trains them child protection officers and appoints them as an authority figure for children who may be abused.
“We go to the schools and have a show, in which animals such as rhinos, elephants, zebras and various others teach and explain to the children what to do and to whom to go in certain situations, in a fun and entertaining way.”
Ferrreira explains that the reason they pick three people is so there will always be two on duty and one on standby.
“We train these people how to recognise symptoms of child abuse and how to handle the situation when a child talks to them,” he said.
The Sexual Assault Clinic in Benoni is the licence holder of the programme and Mad Rage Against Child Abuse are the official certified co-ordinators.
He adds that there are no costs involved, as the training, performing and other services are free, but that they need volunteers to do the training at schools.
