“THE most crucial part of my healing is doing what I’m doing now, which is being able to turn that which terribly shattered my life into something good.”
These were the words of Kita Karg, whose mother, Lorraine Karg, together with the family’s employees Hilda Linane and Zakhewo Mhlongo, were brutally murdered on the family farm in Mooi River in 2010.
She was speaking at a workshop for Hillcrest residents yesterday.
The “Safety over Christmas Period” workshop was held in association with ER24 and SA CAN, a volunteer organisation aimed at improving community safety.
Karg said the value she could add to the public “is to share my experience and make people understand how it is like to go through something so tragic”.
She was sharing the ways in which she has managed to overcome the tragedy and how people should be alert and wary of their surroundings.
She said SA CAN enabled her and the family to have a positive outcome to the tragedy.
“The support from SA CAN enabled the police to speed up the process and that same night the investigation was launched.”
She said the kind of support she received during that difficult time opened her eyes to the possibility that if the public worked together with the police, a difference could be made.
“They counselled us. That helped us a lot because no one is trained to handle a tragedy like this. They have a tough job and need to be applauded,” Karg said.
SA CAN director Brian Jones said a big part of how they operated included “the importance of our relationships with operational partners across the emergency service industry”.
He encouraged people to make use of their “Anytime, Anywhere, Anything Button” during the festive season.
“The location-based service is programmed directly into your cellphone’s speed-dial and as soon as you hit that button, we can see where you are and send immediate assistance, whether it’s medical or criminal in nature.”