L to R: Dr Earl Meyer, CEO Wesfleur Hospital, Gary Titus, Senior Public Prosecutor NPA SOCA, Charmaine Hansen, Atlantis TCC, Kathy Baxter, SPAR Group Project Manager for Strategy, Risk and Compliance, Elsabe van Zyl, SPAR WC Advertising Manager, Adv Bonnie Currie-Gamwo, Special Director of Public Prosecutions: SOCA, Adv Pierre Smith Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions NPA SOCA, Adv Omashani, NPA SOCA Acting Provincial Head, Genevieve Devereux, National co-ordinator TCCs, Auburn Temmers Regional Court Prosecutor, Sandra Reddy, Acting Director Admin SOCA, , Adv Nathan Sass, Case Manager, Atlantis TCC ,Dr Abi Ugoagwu, Wesfleur Hospital, Adv Mark Kenny, NPA Cluster Manager and Dr Renaldo Christoffels, Wesfleur Hospital.
Cape Town - The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) sexual offences and community affairs (SOCA) unit has received a donation of a monthly supply of groceries valued at R300 000 from the Spar Group, which will feed gender-based violence survivors at the 60 Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCC) across the country.
TCCs are victim-centred, multi-disciplinary one-stop facilities managed by the NPA to reduce secondary victimisation, increase the conviction rate by building a trial-ready case for prosecution, and reduce case cycle times from reporting to finalisation.
The donations, which will bring much relief to more than 2,577 survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) across the Western Cape, took place at the Atlantis Thuthuzela Care Centre based at the Wesfleur hospital.
The NPA says the Spar group has committed to making donations per month to provide non-perishable food items, toiletries and sanitation products to TCCs all across the country.
Advocate Bonnie Currie, the special director of prosecutions for the SOCA unit, welcomed the donations and said it was fitting for the handover to be in Atlantis, as it has one of the highest levels of GBV and femicide (GBVF) in the country.
“Against this background, the SPAR donation embodies the strategic private-public collaboration, encouraged by the president to address GBVF. It is also historic as it is one of the first such collaborations between the NPA and the private sector,” she said.
"Victims or survivors will not rely solely on the state and NGOs to deal with GBV+F. South Africans are coming together as a collective to deal with GBV+F. Every South African, every corporate entity needs to ask ’what am I doing to fight GBV+F’.”
SPAR company secretary risk, sustainability and governance executive Kevin O’Brien said the group valued family and the work it was doing to raise awareness of individuals’ rights as victims of gender-based violence was in keeping with the company’s commitment to dealing with the significant issues that face society.
"We are privileged to be able to partner with the National Prosecuting Authority, to provide much-needed support to existing TCCs, and to assist with the development of new (ones),“ he said.
"SPAR is committed to doing whatever it can to constructively raise awareness and implement meaningful and practical ways to assist those who are victims of gender-based violence.”
Wesfleur CEO Dr Earl Meyer said Atlantis was home to many big companies and the hospital needed only five more to join the SPAR Group in order to make a big difference in the community.
“This TCC is so unique, and without these collaborations, it will not work. If we have these collaborations, we can make a huge difference in this community,” Meyer said.
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