Speech Notes: Report Back to Khayelitsha on Kuyasa Survey, and Launch of Holiday Programme for Youth

• I would like to thank you for coming here on this important occasion to engage with the Department of Social Development about the major challenges we face together.
• Just over two months ago I joined Department officials by going door-to-door in Kuyasa after a 4-year old girl was taken into the bushes and brutally raped.
• When we hear about things like this happening to our children all of us are shocked.
• We cannot allow the social fabric of our communities to disintegrate any further.
• This is why we went into Kuyasa and knocked on the doors of more than 1000 homes.
• We spoke to 982 people.
• Our aim was to find out how many of our children were attending Early Childhood Development Programmes and whether residents knew about the range of services available to them, relating to family matters.
• The door-to-door campaign showed that 76.6% of residents surveyed had received information on child protection issues in the past, and 65.1% knew where to go for assistance.
• Although this shows that most people do know what services are available to them, there is certainly room for improvement.
• What has really stood out for the Department about the survey is the section where we asked Kuyasa residents for their perspectives of what can be done to protect our children.
• When the little girl was raped I called on the Kuyasa community to be more vigilant and for parents to take better responsibility for their children.
• I reminded the people of Khayelitsha as a whole that Government cannot protect our children on its own.
• Instead, we need the help of parents and communities.
• This is a 3-way partnership and it makes me happy that so many of the respondents in the survey agreed with my sentiments.
• Almost 300 of the 982 Kuyasa residents we spoke to said we can only better protect our children through proper parenting and the community working together.
• Meanwhile, 90 residents wanted to see an improvement in terms of neighbourhood watches in the area.
• I would now like to call on the community to come forward and ensure that parents take responsibility for their children and to set up neighbourhood watches that can keep the child abusers away from our children.
• In the survey Government was also told by many residents that it was not doing the best it could.
• In fact, 119 residents said they wanted more police visibility in the area, while 93 wanted more visits from social workers.
• Government will take your requests very seriously.
• I would also like to encourage our youth to take part in our Festive Season Holiday Programme this year.
• We will have programmes in the Cape Winelands and Overberg Districts, which will include some farms.
• They will also be held in Eersteriver, Somerset West, Khayelitsha, Kraaifontein, Vredendal and in the Cape Town Metropolitan area.
• The programme includes safety tips for children during the holidays, along with substance abuse and sexual awareness workshops, amongst others.
• I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
• Those of you that are travelling to the Eastern Cape over the festive season must make sure that bus and taxi drivers get you there safely.
• Your families cannot do without you.

Thank you.