By: Tamzyn Degoumois, Roza Carvalho, Kyla Herrmannsen & Vuyolwethu Tshekela

Despite the fact that this week marked child protection week, many children are still suffering in South Africa. We travelled to Extension 9 in Grahamstown to see how one community member is making a difference in the face of insufficient government assistance.

Nomalungelo ‘Margaret’ Ngcongco cares for twelve foster-children in her home ‘the Place of Joy’ in Extension 9.  She is providing for these children without the full financial and other forms of assistance that she should be getting from the Department of Social Development. Many of the children also come from abusive homes and backgrounds of neglect and have not received any counselling from Social Workers.

 Margaret narrates one of her foster children’s stories, with pictures of her and her foster children.

Photos by Kirsty Harcourt-Cooke

 

Eight of the children have been assigned to Margaret by Social Services in Grahamstown, while the remaining four are children of relatives. According to the Children’s Amendment Act of 2007, the legal limit of foster-children permitted to the care of one guardian is six. The act also allows for a maximum of six grants of R680 per month per child. 

Grant problems

In accordance with the law Margaret does not receive foster grants for two of the eight children assigned by social services. Margaret says the six grants are “nothing, you can’t do nothing with R680. The most of the money I used my money”.  She says the grants are quickly used in paying for school fees, crèche, food and transport and she often has to rely on the kindness of local businesses.

 

Click here to listen to Jill White, Manager of Kwikspar, Grahamstown speak about her link to ‘House of Joy’ [podcast]http://rutv3.ru.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/jill-white-new.mp3[/podcast]

 

Margaret also says that the Social Development Department does not provide the regular check –ups and reports on the children as required by the act. She says social services “dump the children on her like SPCA” with nothing “not even clothes”. The Department also do not give any extra assistance or counselling to Margaret despite the fact that at least one of the children is mute and four are HIV positive.

Response from Social Services

The Department of Social Development were unavailable for comment at the time of posting.

But Margaret is unfazed by the lack of support and financial assistance from the Department of Social Services. She describes her children’s home as “my vision and my ministry nobody pushed me to do this it just came inside my heart”.

Margaret’s story

Margaret began fostering children in 1994. She started by taking in an abandoned 3 day old baby girl. Since then Margaret has brought another eleven children into her house and has built what she calls “my family”. She adds that the children who stay with her are more like her grandchildren and that she cannot see them as orphans.

Margaret credits God for “giving me the strength” to do her work and provide for the children, saying that one has “to know God”. She also thanks her community for helping her fundraise and praying for her in Church.

 Despite her love for her children Margaret says she hopes that they will be re-united with their families so that she can take in and help others. She also hopes to expand to a larger property which would enable her to take in more children.

 

Margaret talks about her hopes to reintegrate these children and their families.                  [podcast]http://rutv3.ru.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/audio1.mp3[/podcast]

Margaret’s dedication and affection for her ‘children’ is self-evident and comes through in the way that she speaks about them.   

 

Grants made easy

Click here for detailed information on how to apply for a grant.

How-to-Apply-for-a-Grant

By Shanel Pillay

For all those who have forgotten… or just didn’t take notes the first time round.  Here is how to do laundry in res.

 

Ever had the feeling that someone may be lying to you? But no idea how to tell for sure?

Here are a few signs to look out for. On the other hand if you’re trying to avoid looking like you’re lying when you are… try avoiding the mentioned gestures…mmmmmhhhh…..

According to SAPS statistics, bold crime in Grahamstown is on the rise. Yet when we hear of crime these days we barley blink an eye and taking precautions is a routine part of our everyday lives. Its only when the precautions we take seem inadequate, that we begin to fearfully blink at the thought of our vulnerability. It seems crime is not only on the rise but also the fearlessness of Grahamstown’s felons. Daylight is as good a time as any. Earlier this year two people were stabbed to death at midday in a local suburb, cars and houses are broken into in broad daylight, even when residents are home. Thieves are not only carrying weapons but also bolt cutters to ensure a successful break-in. Hi-Tech security is usually first on the scene with the police trailing behind. It seems locals are realising that their sense of security is a false one.

Grocott’s Mail reporter, Luvuyo Mjekula has been reporting on crime in Grahamstown for years, and agrees that crime is certainly taking on a more brazen nature, “Crime is getting bolder, more out in the open for anyone to see.”  Mjekula recently reported on an armed robbery at Noluthando Hall in Joza, where pensioners were held at gunpoint and robbed of all their money.  Students have also felt the effects of these more major crimes happening in the Grahamstown area.  We spoke to two students who have recently had first hand experience of the increasingly violent and arrogant nature of these crimes.

 Megan DeWaal a third year BSc student, woke up to find three intruders in her digs on Parry Street.  What shocked DeWaal most was the chillingly cool and methodical way in which the thieves went about their business… [podcast]http://rutv3.ru.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/sequence-03.mp3 [/podcast]

Martin Ross, another student at Rhodes, was one of the victims of the recent spike in car break-ins this month. His car was broken into on Milner street between the relatively busy hours of five and eight o’clock in the morning. Surprisingly it wasn’t just his radio that was stolen…. [podcast]http://rutv3.ru.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/crime-bite_1.mp3[/podcast]

 

 Elicia or “Superwoman” as she is affectionately known by her community has taken matters into her own hands. Her community in the township has expressed a complete disillusionment with the police response in their area.

Although bold crime may be on the rise, statistics show that the number of major crimes in Grahamstown have neither risen nor dropped since the figures released in 2002.