SAPS cluster builds house for abused kids

The Makhado cluster of the South Africa Police Services has taken it upon themselves to build a proper house for five children whose alcoholic mother had allegedly neglected them, leaving them to fend for themselves.

According to the cluster commander, Brig Alex Seopa, they heard about the plight of the family and decided to try and make a difference. “The mother is sharing a makeshift structure with her six children, aged between 21 and 5,” he said. The cluster decided to build a house with six rooms to provide shelter for the family. “We are trying to raise funds and have asked for donations in the form of building materials from businesspeople,” he said.

Seopa said that, according to the police’s assessment of the matter, the mother had not neglected the children. “Poverty is a cruel thing – it turns its face towards people and then confusion reigns,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that she could not bring her partner into that shack to spend a night. She chose to give her children enough space to be children.” He said that the police had found her at home on regular visits at her home in N'waxinyamani village, near Elim.

The 18-year-old son, however, had fewer illusions about their mother’s commitment to the family. “Our mother would hardly spend more than two days at home. She would vanish for weeks while I looked after my brothers and sisters. I even quit school because I had to take total care of my baby brother, who is only five now,” he said.

According to the son, it all started in 2012 when the mother started drinking alcohol compulsively. “She had used our social grant monies as she wished,” he said.

The children finally reported her to social workers and the mother’s grant card was confiscated. The children are now accompanied by an official from the social welfare department every month. “Our social worker makes a withdrawal on our account and gives us all our money,” the son explained. “We use it all to get food in her presence. We find this arrangement to be better, because it’s helping us,” he said.

The Makhado cluster community policing forum chairperson, Samson Mphilo, said that many stakeholders had already contributed towards the house project. The donors include BuildIt Elim, CTM Makhado, Ndovela Brickyard, Elim Engen, and Shiviti Brickyard.

“The house, however, is only half built and the project had to be temporarily stopped due to the shortage of material such as bricks, cement and sand,” Mphilo said.

Meanwhile, Brig Seopa said that once the house had been completed, the absent mother would be approached to return home and to live with her children. “We will involve social workers, so that the mother and the children find peace of mind and live in dignity,” he said.

Anyone interested in donating building material can contact Mphilo at 074 357 0667.

Date:24 July 2015

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

Read: 1550