Page 29 - Rural Voice III - Responding to a Pandemic

COMMUNITY RADIO AND WHATSAPP HELPED CONNECT US TO PEOPLE WHO NEEDED OUR SERVICES DURING LOCKDOWN
nomboniso gaya, coordinaTor of The porT sT johns communiTy legal advice cenTre, wriTes abouT The dual challenges of dealing wiTh cases of gender-based violence and eXTreme hunger during The covid-19 pandemic
Port St Johns is close to the border of KwaZulu-Natal, so many people leave here to work on the sugarcane farms. Children are left behind with grandmothers, without documentation that would enable them to access a child support or foster care grant. Some parents use these grants for themselves, leaving grandmothers and children destitute. In cases like this, we ensure the grant is cancelled at the Department of Social Development and SASSA, so that the grandmother can make a new application. When men in our community beat their wives and girlfriends, or if children are raped by family members, these cases are not reported to police – as they are considered family matters. We follow these cases, because we have a programme of home-based care in which caregivers provide door-to-door services. We gather information about cases of rape that are not reported, or cases that are reported, but disappear from police dockets. We follow up on these cases by going to the Station Commander of Port St Johns Police, and get him to appoint somebody else to take over the case.
PORT ST JOHNS LEGAL ADVICE CENTRE
Established in 1992, Port St Johns Legal Advice Centre engages in: HIV/AIDS awareness; human rights issues; economic empowerment for the youth; and paralegal support, with the provision of free legal services and advice on human rights.
DISTRICT: OR Tambo District Municipality
COVID-19 CASES: From March to the end of October 2020, there were 13,052 cases of COVID-19 reported in the OR Tambo District Municipality of the Eastern Cape. There were 386 fatalities.
DIRECTOR: Nomboniso Gaya
NUMBER OF STAFF: 3, NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS: 12
BOARD CHAIR: Mziseni Gamane
BOARD MEMBERS: Nomathamsanqa Ndamse (Deputy Chair); Nozuko Malawu (Secretary); Angel Mafu (Deputy Secretary); Lennox Banti (Treasurer); Tembisa Ngcwabane (Ex-Officio); Nontle Hlengani
ADDRESS: 166 Church Street, Port St Johns, 5120
PHONE: 067 762 0020, 082 507 2283, 073 232 8852,
EMAIL: portstjohnslegaladvice@gmail.com, ebonygaya@gmail.com
nomboniso Ebony gaya
“During lockdown level 5, those who had informal jobs could not work and did not have food.”
RURAL VOICE III: RESPONDING TO A PANDEMIC
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