Plett company's 'heart' goes out to abuse victims

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - A former Mungo employee’s violent death last year has inspired the company to do something in her honour.

Mungo – a homeware textile company with their mill based in Plettenberg Bay – this month launched its new corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme Move –which stands for motivating objectives and vision to empower.

Company spokesperson Amy Paterson said the programme has been set up to appropriate 1% of the company’s turnover towards projects and initiatives that seek to benefit and empower the community of Plettenberg Bay.

Remembering Simnikiwe Mfengu
A former staff member, Simnikiwe Mfengu, died in December last year as a result of gender-based violence. “We decided to do something in her honour through Move. As part of the programme we intend to dedicate time and resources towards collaborating with organisations involved in fighting the epidemic of gender-based violence – the number one killer of women in South Africa.

"Move is committed to pursuing and supporting any social initiatives that set out to address a shift away from violent expression in our society as a whole, especially through the education of our younger generation,” Paterson said.

The first beneficiary of this initiative is local anti-child abuse group Green Hearts because of its objective to teach children to empower themselves against violence in their community. “Our popular annual sale took place in February and so we decided to host a preview and pre-buy event the day before it started, auctioning off tickets to the 20 highest bidders,” she said, adding that the money raised was donated to the organisation.

'Humbled by Plett generosity'
The Green Hearts’ Janet Harding said they were humbled by the generosity of the Plett community. “We have identified our core function as educators to try and prevent children suffering abuse and for that reason have presented the Protective Behaviour programme to all but one primary school in the Bitou region,” she said.

Harding added that state resources are under pressure which means many traumatised victims and their families are without the necessary tools to cope with the aftermath of abuse.

“The Green Hearts has raised funds through pancake stalls and gift wrapping to provide psychological assistance to children. Famsa may only provide assistance to those over the age of 16, which means a huge percentage of our community has no help at all unless they can afford private care.”

She said they plan to use the donation by providing printed material to schools and parents to raise awareness around the dangers faced by children.

Green Hearts Janet Harding, Gay Clark, Nozi Lukasi, Magrietha Ferreira en Helen Bezuidenhout received a donation from Mungo in Plettenberg Bay to boost their efforts in fighting child abuse. Photo: Ewald Stander