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MTN Foundation provides ICT equipment to safe houses

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 29 Nov 2016
MTN views the abuse of women, children and other vulnerable members of society in a serious light, says the company's Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi.
MTN views the abuse of women, children and other vulnerable members of society in a serious light, says the company's Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi.

The MTN SA Foundation has supported and refurbished four White Door Centre of Hope (WDCH) homes with ICT infrastructure, furniture and clothing to provide a safety haven for survivors of gender-based violence.

According to the MTN SA Foundation, the WDCH initiative is a project that identifies and renovates under-utilised spaces in communities in order to turn them into safe havens for survivors of gender-based violence.

Three of the centres are based in the Eastern Cape and one is in Mpumalanga province. These centres are intended as short-term safe centres where victims can access counselling, first aid, overnight clothes and accommodation while awaiting further assistance from the police, doctors and social workers. Two of the centres were recently handed over by the foundation to the communities. They are managed by NGOs in the community with the support of South African Police Service and Department of Justice, adds the foundation.

Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi, general manager of the MTN SA Foundation, says: "The facilities that MTN SA Foundation has handed over in partnership with the Department of Social Development form part of MTN's support of the WDCH, an initiative that MTN SA Foundation has supported for the past four years."

In two of the homes, MTN SA foundation says it provided new equipment such as computers and interaction white boards as well as a monthly supply of 20GB data. Among the items provided in the other two centres were a Samsung 46 inch TV screen, furniture and clothing.

"MTN is acutely sensitive of the plight of the communities it operates in. MTN's decision to support the White Door Centres of Hope is informed by our quest to provide a tangible and lasting intervention to the survivors of domestic abuse. We believe that this gesture will provide a much-needed lifeline to the vulnerable members of society who are at the receiving end of this unwarranted violation of their dignity," adds Mtunzi-Hairwadzi.

MTN views the abuse of women, children and other vulnerable members of society in a serious light, and through its foundation, it actively supports initiatives aimed at curbing the scourge of domestic abuse, concludes Mtunzi-Hairwadzi.

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