Children at an Alexandra crèche will return from holiday next week to find their facility no longer accessible to them.
This after the city council’s Johannesburg Property Company issued a new lease for the premises on 12th Avenue in which the Montessori crèche is situated.
A church is said to have taken up the lease.
The premises were donated by the Rotary Club to council on behalf of the community for their programmes. The crèche caters mostly for the early learning for poor children as other privately owned ones are unaffordable.
The entire building was leased by the Johannesburg Property Company which handles all city properties to a private entity said to subcontracted by the department of social development which charged residents R550 for registration and R75 monthly fees per child and it is said the new lessee (church) will charge a R500 registration fee and R390 monthly.
The chairperson of the creche’s parents’ committee Fikile Zulu lamented the loss, saying the residents had been let down by the city and it would be a draw back as poor children would be further marginalised from accessing critical services for their early development and stimulation.
“Most of them won’t be able to enrol at other crèches as it’s already mid year, and besides the parents won’t afford higher costs charged by the private crèches,” Zulu said.
She added that city officials had not consulted but informed them that the new lease was temporary but could not clarify for how long, how they would still access services and whether they would still be affordable.
Zulu stated that the local councillor Chris Mabunda was heard on radio saying the new lease had been issued procedurally and that he could assist to ensure the crèche’s services remained available to them. Mabunda confirmed the new arrangement, saying the committee and the city’s department of social development would meet to work out an amicable and affordable solution and a decision would announced afterwards.
A city official who requested anonymity also confirmed the lease agreement saying it had passed through appropriate council motions in the presence of their councillor, was advertised in local newspapers and that the committee was informed at various stages. “It also appears the concern may relate to awarding of the lease to an outsider,” the source said.
Zulu however stressed that council should expect them to contest the matter as the property was their gift from the Rotary Club.
