BEWARE of older men who pretend to be kind!
This was the advice from Sergeant Nonkosi Mapukatha when speaking to grade 7 pupils at Siyabulela Primary School in Langa, Cape Town during a Sugar Daddy Syndrome awareness programme on Friday, 22 October.
She said some men promise young girls money and gifts with the aim of luring them to having sex with them.
“If a man gives you free things, you must know he will ask for sex from you,” she said.
Mapukatha, who is responsible for the Victim Friendly Room at the Langa cop shop, runs an awareness programme for grade 7 kids every year.
“I warn them to be careful of sugar daddies. There are crooks who prey on young girls,” she said.
Mapukatha said some family members, who are supposed to protect young girls, are raping them.
“If the girls are not equipped with this knowledge before they go to grade 8, they might become victims.
“Knowledge is power and with it they can protect themselves from sugar daddies,” said Mapukatha.
She warned that besides teenage pregnancy, sugar daddies can also give them sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/Aids.
The girls received sanitary pads provided by the Siya Kolisi Foundation in partnership with #LangaForMen, which is an organisation that fights gender-based violence.
Grade 7 boys were also told to protect girls and not abuse them.
Siyabonga Tafeni (14) said: “Cops told us to protect our sisters.
“They said we can even help them with money for pads if they are in need.”
Asakhe Solonzi (13) said: “We are grateful for the pads we received.”
