RSSAF funding makes a difference
in Pretoria.
by Wiesner Vos
In 2003, the Sinoville Crisis Centre in Pretoria (South Africa) approached the Rhodes Scholars Southern African Forum (RSSAF) for funding towards a prefabricated wooden building of approximately 50 square meters. RSSAF contributed approximately £2500 pounds towards the above building. The Centre, founded on 17 September 1999, is a community-based organisation that assists traumatised victims of crime, accidents and many emergencies. Victims are referred to the Centre by the police, the courts, other services and community organisations, or they may contact the Centre themselves direct. The Centre does not distinguish in any way between race, colour or creed.
Trained volunteers run the Centre for 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. It was originally supposed to render a service to residents of the Sinoville police area only, but because of the lack of Crisis Centres in Pretoria and because of the high rate of crime in South Africa, the Centre does not discriminate against victims of other areas of Pretoria. The Centre actually accommodates cases from places outside of the city and even outside South Africa. They have assisted victims from as far a field as Mozambique and Botswana. Volunteers are trained to debrief victims of sexual crimes, violent crimes such as car hijacking, family violence, bank robberies, armed robberies etc. The Centre also assists the Child Protection Unit of the South African Police Services in assessing child victims of rape and other forms of abuse. A service is also supplied, in which the prepare children for court cases after a crime has been committed against them.
The Centre arranges quarterly seminars to inform the public about relevant matters such as child/parent relationships, drug abuse, etc. These seminars are focused on pro-active measures against delinquent crimes. Drug tests are also performed at the Centre. A family violence assistance program is run at the Centre, which especially assists women and children against family violence and helps in obtaining a Protection Order against the perpetrator. All of the before mentioned services are rendered free of charge. The Centre does not receive any state funding and relies financially on donations from businesses and the community. Since the opening of the Centre in September 1999 up to December 2001 5060 cases have been handled at the Centre. At present 31 volunteers are working at the Centre without any monetary compensation.
Wiesner Vos (South Africa, PRG, 2000) visited the Centre in 2004 to see how the money contributed by RSSAF contributed to the Centre's activities. The money donated by RSSAF contributed to a prefabricated wooden building (see photo) that includes a kitchen and toilet facilities, a big room for meetings and seminars, which can be divided into three smaller therapy rooms. This Centre was in urgent need of additional space to provide a better service to women and children who are victims of family violence. The new building provides the open space they needed to assess abused children, and to give a better service to women and children who are victims of family violence. The Centre also uses the new building for seminars and to train volunteers. The money donated by RSSAF has made a very valuable contribution to the activities of the Centre. The Sinoville Crisis Centre and RSSAF would like to thank Scholars for their generosity, without which this donation would not have been possible.