Child welfare desperate for new premises

THE Pinetown Highway Child and Family Welfare Society is in need of new premises as they have been asked to move due to the deteriorating state of the building they use.

The welfare society has been in existence for more than nine decades, and the director, Sibongile Manyathi, shudders to think what will happen if the service they have been rendering for years can no longer be provided.
“At the moment, we have nowhere to go. We do not know when we will be asked to vacate these premises.”

Also read: Social development MEC visits women inmates at Westville Prison

Manyathi said the welfare has been operating from the offices in Livingstone Road for 30 years.

“Most of the people we service are only familiar with these offices. We have an ongoing relationship with the communities we work with, and we have to nurture those relationships. Our work includes protecting and caring for the children within and outside families.
Expanding more on what the society does, Manyathi mentioned that they deal with vulnerable children and orphans and work with various families and offer support to foster parents. We ensure that children receive their grant money, and we also host awareness programmes.

“The workload is increasing because of the Aids epidemic and socio-economic circumstances. More and more people are coming to us for help. There are no jobs, and people are hungry out there, and most of the children are either orphans, abandoned, from child-headed homes or are living with their grannies. We address child neglect and give women hope,” she said.
She added that they have 35 staff, and the premises they use is comprised of 20 offices, seven ablution facilities, two boardrooms, two kitchens, an archive room and a parking space as the social workers are always travelling.
“Although this will affect our clients, we also understand that this place is not safe anymore. We are really desperate for new premises,” she said.

Also read: Child welfare worker highlights key signs of child abuse and how you can help

Mhlabunzima Memela, KZN social development spokesperson, said the department heard about the challenge faced by the Pinetown Highway Child and Family Welfare Society.
“Unfortunately, the department is unable to assist because it also doesn’t have enough space to share with them. It must be remembered that child welfare is an independent organisation but has a service level agreement with the department. Our service level agreement doesn’t talk about the provision of office space for their operations.”

He said that as much as they fund them, there are things that the department cannot get involved in.
“Indeed, we are concerned that services to clients may be compromised due to the challenges they face,” said Memela.

For more from the Highway Mail, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok