Durban — Childline KwaZulu-Natal has urged the community to come together to explore solutions that can help address the ongoing need for child and youth care facilities in the province.
This was after the Aryan Benevolent Home (ABH) council announced the closure of its children’s home in Chatsworth following “a series of baseless and malicious” statements made by KZN Social Development MEC Mbali Shinga in the media.
The MEC presented the department's investigation findings to the ABH leadership and the media on Tuesday.
Shinga and senior officials said that they had found that the allegations of child abuse and malnutrition were true.
Adeshini Naicker, director of Childline KZN, said the closure would leave a considerable gap in the support system that many children in KZN rely on.
“We at Childline KZN were deeply saddened to learn of the impending closure of ABH Children’s Home. This decision marks a significant loss for our community, as child and youth care facilities play an essential role in supporting vulnerable children and youth,” Naicker said.
In the statement released on Wednesday, ABH said they had come to the difficult decision to serve notice to the Department of Social Development that the children’s home would be closed within 90 days.
“The Board, composed entirely of volunteers and patrons who serve our home on an unpaid basis, is deeply disheartened by the fabrication and mistruths propagated by the MEC in the media.
“These damaging comments have not only cast unwarranted aspersions on the integrity of our organisation but have also undermined the tireless work and commitment of our volunteers, who have dedicated their lives to the well-being of vulnerable children,” said ABH in a statement.
The department’s report stated that the allegations emanated from a child who had been placed by Chatsworth Child Welfare, and the child reported the abuse to a social worker.
The ABH council management investigated the allegations further.
The 7-page report further said that as the Department of Social Development was the custodian of all children placed in alternative care, it was the responsibility of the department to conduct a further investigation and the head of department appointed a task team of 11 members to investigate the allegations of child abuse and to provide a report on the findings and recommendations.
The abuse of children was confirmed during the investigation.
It also found that the food provided to children was inadequate and therefore the children were often hungry. The menu was not in compliance with the Standardised Departmental Menu.
ABH said that they would continue to support the children currently at their home with the utmost care and dignity while ensuring that the transition to another facility was smooth.
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Daily News