Picture: Bella Mogwase (82) allegedly assaulted by her own children
By REGINALD KANYANE
A 82-year-old gogo lives in fear after she was allegedly assaulted by her own children. Bella Mogwase from Setlagole village said she was caught in the middle after she tried to intervene in a fight between her children recently.
Mogwase allegedly went to the police station to seek help, but she was referred to the North West Social Development offices in Setlagole village. However, she found the offices closed and she could not receive any assistance.
“My children were fighting and in the process also assaulted me. I went to the police and they referred me to the department of social development. Unfortunately, I found the offices closed and no one was available to assist me.
“Now, I do not know where I should go to seek help. We cannot live like this because it is clear that the workers at the department prioritise themselves before us. I would like to appeal to the North West MEC for Social Development, Boitumelo Moiloa for assistance,”
Mogwase said the situation is really bad and she is still terrified.
Meanwhile, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) deputy provincial chairperson, Leonard Chweneemang said they shut down the offices because the service point manager is purging them. He said they could not execute their duties because of favouritism and factionalism at the institution.
“We urged the meeting with the department managers to address our challenges. The reason why we are closed here is that we want a hearing of the social development principals.
“We have made countless complaints regarding what has transpired at the office in Ratlou. She told us that the district director who happens to be her immediate supervisor is her friend, so there is nothing that can be done,” Chweneemang said.
He further said there was a clip circulating on social media where the service point manager allegedly refused to allocate the departmental vehicles to social workers to perform their official duties.
“Where have you found qualified social workers who happen to be a service point manager refusing to release a car when there was a complaint that an elderly person and a child are being abused? Obviously, those are the most vulnerable groups in our country, and she says she does not care and she will not release a car.
“How do you expect the community to be happy in such a situation? As workers here, we want to perform our duties but unfortunately, we are unable to do so because the manager is working with factions,” said Chweneemang.
North West Social Development spokesperson, Petrus Siko said: “We will ensure that residents receive services while we resolve issues with our workers. We are doing our best to ensure that problems at Ratlou service point is resolved.
“We would like to ensure to residents that we will do our best to make sure that they receive services while we are still engaging our employees to find a lasting solution for internal problems that are related to labour relations,” Siko said.
The Ratlou service point has been closed for more than seven days.
The Guardian 