Samaritan employees plead for better management for the sake of the children
Following allegations of neglect and misconduct by management of the Samaritan Centre in Fauna Park, employees spoke to BONUS about their grievances.
POLOKWANE – The employees said they were upset because management did not inform them that the Department of Social Development had stopped the centre’s funding. This information, they said, affected them as well since they had last received their salaries in December last year.
Read more: Neglect and poor condition allegations surround Samaritan House
The department ceased funding for the centre on the basis that management failed to comply to certain rules and policies set out in Section 197 of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 as a prerequisite for funding.
Read more: Samaritan House children moved to a place of safety as court battle continues
The matter will be heard in the Polokwane High Court on 22 May where the court will determine their fate and whether the centre is fit to care for children. The children were moved to a place of safety after the department investigated the centre following reports of neglect and misconduct in April.
The centre’s staff have approached the Department of Labour with their grievances about not being paid.
Phaswane Tladi, Limpopo Chief Inspector for Labour confirmed the matter was reported to the department and said the centre’s management were initially given 14 days, as of 19 March, to pay the employees. This did not happen and the matter has since been escalated to court. “We are at this stage unable to disclose when the case will be heard in court,” Phaswane said.
One of the employees told BONUS of the working conditions at the centre.
“I have been working at the centre for years and have never received a payslip nor an increase. It is not that we demand increases because working at the Samaritan Centre gives us pure joy and fulfillment as we love the children as our own, raising some of them since they were in nappies. We are saddened by everything that has happened. Management could have at least told us about the situation instead of making empty promises to pay us. We also have families to support,” employee spokesperson, Willemien Sekaya, said.
BONUS contacted the Samaritan Centre’s management and spoke to Peter Galane, the Operational Manager, and he said they are unable to pay the staff as they do not have the money and are still waiting for the Department of Social Development to pay them. The department, however, has declined to do so until the case is heard and finalised in court.
Department of Social Development Spokesperson, Joel Seabi, said: “The requirements for a Child and Youth Care Centre (CYCC) are both stringent and critical to adhere to, and as the department we normally assist such institutions to be able to comply. Similarly, we have been trying to assist the facility in question to adhere to the norms and standards as required and we stopped paying grants to the home because the management of the home no longer complied with the rules and policies stipulated as a prerequisite for funding,” he explained.
The employees pled with the centre to change management for the sake of the children’s lives and well-being as they said they believe the centre will go back to being the home they had always known and trusted to love and care for orphans.
