The ReStory Foundation takes an active role in advocacy as it relates to the marginalized, especially children.
Below is our 2023 campaign to fight child rape just prior to our renaming from the Bhambayi Project to the ReStory Foundation.
Join the fight against child rape
What was achieved through our child protection week activism
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Arrest
The rapist who ‘featured’ in our video has been re-arrested.
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Magistrate replacement
The magistrate has been removed from that court and replaced with an experienced one and is under investigation.
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Progress in other cases
We are working on other murder and rape cases with the NPA and are seeing progress.
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Petition success and local support
We have nearly 10 000 online petition signatures and many more in person in Bhambayi
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Community collaboration for safety
The community is coming together to see how they can make Bhambayi a safer community. We are working together across different committees.
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Media recognition
To date we have featured in 21 Newspapers, at least 1 radio station, SABC and ENCA. We celebrate the community of Bhambayi standing as a beacon of hope to impact all children in South Africa, not just in Bhambayi
Every 20 minutes a child is sexually abused in South Africa, according to official cases. However, the reality is more like every 2 minutes as children stay silent out of fear and shame. Both boys and girls form part of the horrifying statistics, with victims as young as 6 months reported. Child rape is South Africa's hidden pandemic.
It is virtually impossible to get rapists arrested, and, even then, the Bhambayi Project’s experience is that they are released on bail within 1 month of arrest. If the rapist rapes again, arrest is unlikely.
Justice, police, child welfare and other structures are failing our children.
The Bhambayi Project’s interaction with the system paints this sobering picture: Rapists are more protected than our children.
Petition explanation with detailed demands
During Child Protection Week, an opportunity was presented to bring about change by signing a petition that was handed over to the leadership in both the justice system and the South African Police Service (SAPS) at the Ntuzuma Magistrate Court on 2nd June 2023 at 2:30 pm. Despite child rape being classified as a Schedule 6 offense, there were concerns that it was often not treated as such.
To address this, there were seven child protection demands made from the police and the justice system. These demands included the requirement for prompt arrests within 24 hours when there was a clear link between the victim's statement and the suspect, the presence of the Investigating Officer at all bail hearings with evidence provided, the notification of the child's representative about bail and court hearings, and access to investigating officers' contact details. Additionally, there was a call for investigations to be completed within four months at the district court level, a mechanism for reporting violations of bail conditions without fear, and an investigation by the Magistrate's Commission into child rapists being granted bail over the past year. These demands aimed to protect children and ensure that child rape cases were handled appropriately according to the law.
