KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC Mbali Shinga. (KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development/Facebook)
- An investigation was launched after claims of child abuse at a Durban childcare centre.
- The allegations include children being beaten with wet towels and belts.
- The implicated staff members have been fired, but the MEC says it’s not enough.
An investigation team has been given three weeks to probe claims of abuse against workers of a non-profit organisation meant to cater for children in KwaZulu-Natal.
The provincial social development department said the “fresh allegations” surfaced at the Aryan Benevolent Home (ABH) in Chatsworth, Durban, where a group of children reportedly suffered abuse at the hands of care workers.
KwaZulu-Natal’s MEC for social development, Mbali Shinga, said the claims included children being beaten with wet towels and belts.
Shinga, accompanied by senior department officials, visited the centre on Tuesday to get first-hand information.
She was informed that the affected workers were subjected to a disciplinary hearing and, subsequently, fired.
Shinga, however, was not happy with that, and insisted the police needed to act as well.
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In a statement, Shinga said: “The care workers must face further punitive measures from the regulatory body and the laws that govern the country to ensure they are held accountable for their actions”.
“We were disappointed and shocked to learn that individuals entrusted with the care and protection of vulnerable children have taken advantage of their position to abuse them,” Shinga said.
“These children arrive in this home coming from abusive backgrounds.”
She added that her investigating team would conduct a “full-scale probe into the allegations to determine what happened and how long the abuses had been occurring in the centre”.
She said the alleged perpetrators of abuse should face criminal charges and be reported to the South African Council for Social Service Professions, where they were registered to practice.
“The childcare workers’ names should be recorded in the child protection register to mark them as transgressors of child protection rights.”
The police’s Thenjiswa Ngcobo said the matter was reported – and they were looking at each allegation on a case-by-case basis.
At the same time, Eshu Seevnarayan, an ABH board member, criticised the MEC’s visit, saying it was totally “unnecessary”.
He said:
The head of the centre was informed about the abuse in April and acted immediately. The implicated workers were fired and charged by the police. We have case numbers. There is nothing more we could have done.
He questioned the motive for the MEC’s visit.
“She’s new at her job, and many feel she was here to make her mark. Her visit is over two months late, and it’s not clear what she would achieve with her own investigation.
“We largely depend on donor funding for our world class institution because the money we get from the department [of social development] is very little. This is being blown out of proportion and will surely get us into trouble with our donors,” he said.
