A GOVERNMENT crackdown on an unregistered creche has led to a group of children aged from one to seven years being separated from their parents.

The Gauteng department of social development sought an urgent court order to remove 10 children from the Malerato Centre for Hope in Mamelodi, Pretoria, last Friday. The children have been put in places of safety while the courts decide whether or not they should be reunited with their parents.

This is the second time the department has shut the facility down after 28 children were removed last year amid allegations of food poisoning. Sixteen of the children were hospitalised after the incident.

One of the parents said she was shocked to receive a call that her one-year-old child had been taken away. "It made me very angry because she [the creche owner]) told me she was registered. They were [also] wrong to take my child without my permission," she said.

Another parent said she had not seen her two-year-old son since he was taken away. "I feel bad that my child was taken from a place where I thought he would be safe. What I would like to know is when will they give me my child [back]?"

According to the department, there are 1600 illegal creches in Gauteng alone, and six were shut down in the last financial year. Department spokesman Sello Mokoena said they cannot release the children until an investigation involving medical doctors, psychologists and social workers is concluded. He said taking children to unregistered facilities compromised the health and safety of children.

He said the courts would determine whether to release the children into their parents' custody based on the findings of the investigation. "People cannot cry foul and use ignorance of the law as an excuse. Parents have an obligation to inquire if the places they are taking their children to are registered," he said.

Mokoena said people should make inquiries and look out for the facilities' health registration certificates to ensure that the creche is compliant.

However the owner, Dikeledi Jacobs, said the latest move was part of ongoing suffering at the hands of the authorities. She said the department only shut down the facility after social workers were notified of two court orders she had obtained against them. "I don't know what to do anymore. They take my children and then spread lies that my place is dirty and there is no food," said Jacobs, adding that two of her grandchildren were among those taken away.

She said only two of the children at the facility stayed overnight because their parents work night shift. The facility used to be an orphanage but was shut down by the department last November. Jacobs said she now runs a creche and charges between R250 to R1000 a month.

However, Mokoena said the issue is that Jacobs is registered with a non-profit organisation. ". but that is not sufficient. She must register with the department for the specific service she renders," Mokoena said.

mahopoz@sowetan.co.za

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