Volunteers to care for children

VOLUNTEERS have been brought in to care for children living in the Department of Social Development’s facilities which have been rocked by a national strike.

KZN Social Development spokesperson Ncumisa Fandesi yesterday said there were a total 73 child and youth care centres in the province but only the eight run by the department were impacted.

Those run by NGOs were operating as normal.

In a statement, head of department Nokuthula Khanyile, reassured the public that no centres were left unattended and no children left stranded.

“Not all workers are on strike, because some understand that they render an essential service and continue to report for duty despite the intimidation,” said Khanyile.

She also made the assurance that children were not going hungry as catering services were outsourced.

“I wish to place it on record that only one child and youth care centre has been shut down because of the murder of an employee at the beginning of the strike. The rest are fully operational.” Fandesi said the circumstances surrounding the murder were subject to a police investigation and no further information was available at this stage.

Khanyile said they had also applied for an eviction order to ensure that employees who were on strike did not disrupt operations at any of the centres.

Collapsed

The strike was led by the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) and had started last Monday after negotiations had collapsed.

Workers’ demands included adjustments to salary levels, the introduction of a rural allowance, the provision of tools of trade, as well as insourcing and employing certain categories of employees on a permanent basis.

In Gauteng, six-month-old baby girl, Singalakha Sonamazi, died on Tuesday after being moved from Walter Sisulu Child and Youth Care Centre in Soweto to Bethany Trust Home, a charity home in Krugersdorp.

She and at least 90 other children had to be moved due to the strike. The Gauteng provincial government yesterday said it may be forced to resort to seeking assistance from the South African National Defence Force to resolve staff shortages at welfare care centres if the social workers’ strike continues.

The national department was leading the dispute resolution processes.

The DA in Gauteng said yesterday that the MEC for Social Development in Gauteng, Nandi Mayathula-Khoza, must be held accountable for the death of the six-month-old girl.

DA Gauteng spokesperson for social development, Refiloe Nt’sekhe, said baby Sonamazi’s death spoke volumes to the lack of concern that government had for those who were in its care.

“Mayathula-Khoza must shoulder the blame, as it is her responsibility to ensure that contingency measures are put in place,” Nt’sekhe said.

Mayathula-Khoza said even though Sonamazi was diagnosed with foetal alcohol syndrome and had low birth weight, it was still unclear what had caused her death.