Four siblings from Jumpas informal settlement are unable to go to school.
Dephney* (12), Zanele* (8), Sifiso* (11) and Sibusiso* (5) Mkhize walk up and down the streets of the informal settlement while their peers are at school.
Of the four children, one lives with their father and the other three with their aunt in Jumpas.
Dephney said the problem started shortly after their mother died.
“We used to attend Esididini Primary School in KwaZulu-Natal. After our mother died our father said we must come this side to Joburg.
“Our aunt came to fetch us and we went back to KwaZulu-Natal to stay with her. Our father stopped sending us money. She [our aunt] brought us back here to Jumpas as she is unemployed and cannot afford to support us financially,” she said.
Dephney said her father travels constantly.
“He is currently in Limpopo.”
Sibusiso is a slow learner and needs special care but it is claimed his father left him alone at their shack – with no food nor anyone to look after him.
The EXPRESS was unable to find the children’s father for two weeks and spoke to their uncle, their father’s brother, who also resides in Jumpas.
He said he doesn’t want to be involved in the children’s lives, as his brother told him that he knows how to take care of his children.
“My brother said he will enrol the children in school but he doesn’t keep his word. He has totally cut me out of the children’s lives. I am pleading for the social workers to intervene,” he said.
Ward 118 councillor Neuren Pietersen said he was not aware of the children but he undertook to approach the Department of Social Welfare to intervene.
* Names changed to protect the children.
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