Call for calm after death of baby moved because of strike
GAUTENG MEC for Social Development, Nandi Mayathula-Khoza, yesterday pledged support to the family of baby Singalakha, saying provincial government and the Rand West District Municipality were working together to bury her.
Singalakha is the sixmonth-old infant who died on Tuesday at the Bethany Trust Home in Krugersdorp after being transferred from the Walter Sisulu Child Youth Care Centre in Soweto.
She and her three elder siblings, together with nine other children, were moved to ensure their safety and wellbeing due to the ongoing strike by social workers.
The four siblings had been placed at the care centre on January 31 pending finalisation of the inquiry by the Westonaria Children’s Court into their home environment.
The cause of baby Singalakha’s death is still unclear though she was diagnosed with foetal alcohol syndrome and had a low birth weight.
Yesterday, Mayathula-Khoza committed to fast-tracking the autopsy for baby Singalakha, so that the child would be released to the family for the burial.
She said the department would continue to provide food parcels and other necessary support to the family: “We are saddened by the passing of baby Singakhala and we remain committed to supporting the family.”
DA spokesperson on social development, Refiloe Nt’sekhe, said calls for help from the SANDF in the wake of Singalakha’s death were an indictment of Mayathula-Khoza and “beyond ludicrous”.
Mayathula-Khoza had said on Wednesday that the Gauteng government might be forced to resort to seeking assistance from the SANDF to resolve staff shortages at welfare care centres if the social workers’ strike continued.
“This avoidable tragedy highlights the inability of Gauteng Social Development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza to do her job,” Nt’sekhe said.
“The strike emphasised that MEC Mayathula-Khoza had not adequately prepared to ensure that the elderly, disabled and young placed in her care would be looked after while social workers were not on hand.”
Members of the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union are on strike across the country. – ANA