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City employees spent time with the abused women and children seeking safety and help at Alexandra's Bombani Safe House.
AS Women's Month draws to a close, the City's infrastructure and services department spent time with abused women and children at the Bombani shelter in Alexandra.
Bombani House Mother Louisah Bokaba receives a gift from Lee Pachappa from the ISD (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)
Staff from the department teamed up with employees from Johannesburg Water, City Power, Pikitup and the City's public liaison unit in putting together gift parcels for the women and children at the home. These gifts included T-shirts and other merchandise.
They visited the home on Friday, 27 August. It was a heartfelt day for the abused women and children living at the shelter, with the parcels handed out to each and every one of them.
Louisah Bokaba, the house mother at the shelter, could not contain the joy in her heart as she spoke of how the women were excited that people cared about them. "This day is very special and will forever remain a special one in each and every woman of the shelter's hearts."
The visit was made to show some love and to give the women and children hope regarding their circumstances. Guest speakers were invited to talk about abuse and how they should never feel like they were worthless.
A female pastor and a female psychologist shared words of wisdom, hope and love for all those who had been abused. The women also took part in an entertaining quiz, with almost everyone who participated winning a prize.
Bombani is home to approximately 30 women and 20 young children. A welcoming and secure safe haven, it was built at a cost of R2,5-million and was officially opened in 2007 by Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane, who was the MEC for housing at the time.
Bokaba explained that the home provided shelter to victims of abuse and domestic violence for not more than three months. "During their stay at the shelter they receive counselling from professionals twice a week and those in need of any medical attention are always attended to by resident nurses."
Bombani Safe House for Abused Women was originally housed in an old fire station in Alexandra. It was established in August 2000, and the founder of the original shelter, Sizakele Nkosi, then the mayoral committee member for public safety, named it "Bombani", meaning "be proud" in Tsonga.
Support for the shelter came from the local community and surrounding areas. Containers were used as rooms to accommodate the women and children. However, it was unsafe and lacked the necessary security measures to protect the women, and so had to close.
A new site was identified on the Far East Bank in Alex and within three months of construction starting, the double-storey shelter was complete. It has 14 family rooms and shared community facilities for cooking, dining and laundry.
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