New staff and children at Samaritan House after court battle
Following court proceedings between the Department of Social Development and Samaritan Children's Home in view of alleged neglect and misconduct at the home, the children who were removed are still kept safe under the wing of the Polokwane Child and Welfare Centre.
POLOKWANE – On 29 June, the Polokwane High Court ruled that the children stay at the Polokwane Welfare Centre so that the department can be given time to asses whether the non-profit organisation, Samaritan Children’s Home is fit and ready to follow rules and policies as set out for them as a Child and Youth Care Centre (CYCC).
Read more: Samaritan House children moved to a place of safety as court battle continues
With the help of a social worker and without any external influence, children over the age of 12 are given an opportunity to decide whether or not they would like to return to the home or not.
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According to a source who contacted BONUS, the court had initially ordered the department to place the children back into the home and to resume funding.
Samaritan’s Home found itself in hot water in April this year, after seemingly not having the children’s basic needs met and accusing the Department of Social Development of not meeting them halfway in terms of finances to ensure they are able to care for the children as they mostly rely on donations to keep the home running.
Read more: Neglect and poor condition allegations surround Samaritan House
The department in response to these allegations said that they stopped paying grants as management no longer complied with the rules and policies stipulated in Section 197 of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 as a prerequisite for funding.
“The requirements for a 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. We will be monitoring the home closely going forward to ensure they comply to and follow the rules to ensure the safety and well-being of the children,” explained Adele van der Linde, Deputy Director for Public Relations and Stakeholder Management.
She denied the claims by a source that the court ordered the department to return the children to the home.
“According to the court order in our possession, there is no instruction for the department to return children to the Samaritan Children’s Home. The court order, however, stipulates that children of the age of 12 (twelve) years and older, who have been removed, shall have a choice to return to the home with the assistance of a social worker, if the said social worker is of the view that it is in the best interest of the said children.
“The home has received a certificate of renewal of registration for the year 2017/18 in the prescribed manner and new children may be admitted at the home. The department and the home are still in meetings to discuss matters and especially, as per the court order, to discuss the provisions of Regulations 84 to 88 of the Regulations to Act 38 of 2005. We will appreciate if the two parties can be given the opportunity and time to follow the court’s orders and meet to solve all matters amicably, without any further interference,” she added.
In the meantime, new children have been placed at the home.
“We are working really hard to raise money to keep the home running so that we can be able to feed the new children at the home. We plan to host several events which will assist us to raise the money we need, and to cut costs we are looking to get a land funding so that we can farm both for economic use and home use. We have decided to not disrupt the children who have been placed at the centre, as we believe they have become comfortable in their new home, we do however miss them,” explained Thuto Mashego, Fundraising Manager at the home.
According to a representative of the home, staff who formerly worked at the home can not be hired back and the home is not in a position to pay them the monies owed to them. New staff have been hired in the meantime.
