The most recent crime statistics released in South Africa tell a horrific story – particularly for women and children. 392 children in South Africa were killed in just 90 days last year, with another 394 surviving attempted murder. 2 048 additional children were victims of physical assault in the same period.
With police services overwhelmed by a tsunami of criminal activity, it falls to civil society to help tackle major social challenges in the country – and Women & Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) – is at the forefront of fighting for the rights of the child and ending the abuse of children in South Africa through a multifaceted, dynamic and aggressive offensive against any form of abuse and gender violence.
Every fight needs support – with financial assistance at the forefront for those trying to change policy and offer safe spaces for victims of abuse – and a partnership with payment services provider Dashpay has seen the rollout of WMACA-branded Dashpay Donations Terminals (DDT) across the country to help raise funds for the organisation’s invaluable mission. The contactless terminals are stand-alone devices with 3G connectivity that allow the public to select a pre-determined donation value – or enter a custom one – and tap their contactless payment card or device to donate to WMACA through the organisation operating the terminal – with zero bank charges paid by the donor or the company hosting the DDT device. The terminals are placed at WMACA partners and retailers, including Protea by Marriott Hotel Johannesburg Balalaika Sandton, Bizzy Car Repair, Vision by Design, and Clamber Club, to name a few.
“We operate two ‘Kidz Clinics’ in Alexandra and Boksburg, as well as various prevention and diversion programs to assist abused children and harnesses the power of the media and other platforms to highlight the injustices that abused children have to endure, through inadequate judicial processes,” says WMACA’s Founding Member and Senior Director – Miranda Jordan-Friedmann. “Everyone is struggling to make ends meet, but the need for the provision of the kinds of services we offer children is only on the increase, which means our need always outstrips our means. The ability to gather donations via always-on, easy-to-operate terminals is a real boost for us in helping meet the needs of the children we support”.
Dashpay Managing Director Benjamin Powell says that having trialled the DDT with other charitable donations, the WMACA initiative marks a major step in rollout of devices designed to do good. “This solution offers a cost-effective and safe way for any organisation to collect funds for a good cause – from schools to churches and charitable organisations of all sizes,” he says. “Our Newland Payment Services devices and our own back-end systems offer world-class security and management systems which offer consumers and organisations peace of mind – and make it simpler and faster than ever before to raise funds for the many deserving causes in our country”.