Editor

Survivors of abuse must not feel they are being judged when they tell the police or other people what happened to them because this will make them unwilling to seek help. 

This is according to the spokesperson for the Department of Social Development, Lumka Oliphant. She says cases of violence or abuse can be reported at a police station, hospital, clinic, church, white door safe space or to a traditional leader, among others. 

An abused child is more likely to abuse others when they grow up, but this does not happen in all cases. 

This is according to Shaheda Omar, the Director of Clinical Services at the Teddy Bear Foundation, who says that when children are abused, they often feel powerless as they are unable to stop the abuse.

“If they become abusers themselves, it’s often to try and regain their power. It makes them feel that they are in control when they re-enact their own abuse. However, the feeling of satisfaction is short lived, so they keep repeating the cycle.

A social media-savvy entrepreneur is selling cookies like hot cakes, despite the Coronavirus lockdown. 

Kabelo Molepo (32) has managed to start a cookie-making business that has customers in three cities over two provinces asking for more.

When young farmer Ncumisa Mkabile recently harvested her first batch of spinach on a piece of land in Khayelitsha, it was sold by lunchtime. 

Western Cape seamstresses are making face masks for those in need in an effort to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). 

A coronavirus relief fund is helping a pig farmer sustain her business. 

The Port of East London’s Sharon Sijako is one of three women captaining a commercial harbour in South Africa. 

The 50-year-old, who was born in Mdantsane near East London, is the second female, after Jacqueline Brown, to be at the helm of her hometown’s 120-year-old harbour. 

It’s extremely important to separate yourself from others, either at home or at a free isolation facility, if you have tested positive for COVID-19. 

Many South Africans who test positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19) cannot self-isolate because their home is too small for them to live and sleep in a room that’s not shared by anyone else.

Western Cape youth are being challenged to try something new while at the same time, creating awareness about community health issues.

Young people in Khayelitsha are becoming ambassadors for educating residents about the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), while also learning the skills needed to become film-makers. 

The Department of Social Development (DSD) has put in place support programmes aimed at helping those live with disabilities through the era of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

This includes access to psycho-social support from the department’s social workers and psychologists to look after a person’s physical and emotional wellbeing.

In addition, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has introduced a separate grant collection date for people living with disabilities to reduce overcrowding and thus lessen their chances of being infected with COVID-19.