Like Esidemeni, the Carletonville child abuse matter could’ve been avoided

We are horrified at the incidents of abuse which occurred at a creche in Carletonville recently.

We have already spoken with various community stakeholders and have visited the creche to seek out the facts for ourselves in the interests of justice and the protection of the rights of all victims.

Various videos surfaced on social media, allegedly showing one of the caregivers assaulting minors at the creche.

It is unacceptable that this has occurred, as Early Childhood Development Centres (ECD) need to be safe spaces for learning.

It has since emerged that this ECD was not registered and had been operating on an expired licence. The issue of this ECD being non-compliant has been known for a long time. It is unacceptable that it had to take a social media storm for the Gauteng MEC for Social Development and her department to act.

In the third quarterly report for the Gauteng Department of Social Development, it emerged that only 1 247 ECD centres out of 2 262 are fully registered.

Government is failing to ensure that every ECD centre in Gauteng is registered and compliant with the law. It is clear that government does not care for the most vulnerable in our society.

The Life Esidimeni tragedy, where 144 of the most vulnerable lost their lives is one of the most callous and heartless acts of cruelty a government could possibly inflict on its people. As in the case of Esidimeni, we will not allow those ultimately responsible for abuse to dodge accountability.

We welcome the swift action by police for the arrest and court appearance of the accused in this matter.

We call on the community to remain calm and allow the justice system to take its course. Let us unite as South Africans for the safety and well-being of all our children.

We will be attending the court case on 7 May 2019 when the suspect is due to appear in court again.