Joburg crèche shut after child scalded with boiling water
The Gauteng Department of Social Development found the facility to be operating illegally and ordered it to shut down.
PRETORIA, April 23 (ANA) – The Stepping Stone Day Care Centre in Alexandra, where a toddler was burned with boiling water in January, has been closed down in accordance with a notice issued by the Gauteng Department of Social Development.
The provincial department had started a process to lodge an urgent application with the high court to enforce the closure of the early childhood development centre (ECD).
“Earlier this month, the department gave Stepping Stone Day Care Centre a 10-day notice to close the facility after officials found that it was operating illegally and in contravention of Act 38 of 2005 of the Children’s Act,” said department spokesperson Feziwe Ndwayana.
“The visit to this ECD was prompted by media reports that a 2-year-old boy was burnt with hot water while in their care in January after he soiled himself.”
The provincial authorities in Gauteng have once again appealed to parents and guardians to ensure that the ECDs in which they enrol their children are legally registered with the Department of Social Development.
In the Stepping Stone Day Care Centre, the ECD worker accused of “punishing” the toddler who had soiled himself is being investigated by the South African Police Service and is also facing an attempted murder charge in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court.
“The department not only enforced closure but also submitted Form 22 to report the practitioner that was responsible for the child in the National Child Abuse Register. The ECD not only refused to comply with the notice from the department but mobilised parents of the children at the centre against the department,” said Ndwayana.
On Thursday, the Gauteng authorities received notification through legal representatives of Stepping Stone Day Care Centre that, after the board met with parents, they have now resolved to close the daily operations of the day-care centre with immediate effect until the proper registration of the NPO is completed.
“Gauteng Social Development MEC Morakane Mosupyoe welcomes the decision by the centre to comply with the departmental notice. The Department of Social Development has committed itself to engage parents of the children attending Stepping Stone Day Care Centre to assist them in the process of moving their children to alternative registered partial care facilities in the area,” said Ndwayana.
In another incident which brought care of minors under the spotlight, 1-year-old Britney Ruguwa died in April 2019 after being run over, allegedly by a speeding car, within Busy Bears Day Care Centre’s premises in Johannesburg.
At the time, Britney’s inconsolable mother, Chiedza Sjambok, told African News Agency (ANA) that the family was turned away from the Sandringham police station when they tried to open a case.
A case of culpable homicide was later opened after the intervention of Gauteng SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
