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Eastern Cape Department of Education MEC, Fundile Gade, has expressed deep sadness about the death of a three-year-old boy who drowned in a pit toilet on Friday.
This incident happened at Little Champions Day Care Centre non-profit organisation (NPO) at Mdantsane Nu 6, in East London.
Gade said that the loss of a life, especially at such a young age, is indeed one of the most devastating incidents, not only to the family and the centre management, but the entire Eastern Cape community.
“Irrespective of the fact that the child was under the management of the above-mentioned centre, the department is committed to supporting the parents and entire staff during this difficult time, hence the activation of its psychosocial support services, to provide debriefing and counselling services to all the traumatised from April 22, 2024. This is meant to support the centre leadership so that they can plan their next move, going forward,” said Gade.
He added that the department does play a critical role of providing funding for these institutions, and focuses on three modalities, namely school nutrition, stimulation equipment for the children, and payment of stipends for the employees or care givers.
He said that the subsidies are only granted once the centre provides the department with the approval certificate from the local authorities to operate.
“We will further guide the centre to ensure that it adheres to the guidelines provided by government for the safety of children under their care at all material times, and this should be coupled with capacity building of the centre management and staff in general. Critically is to avoid re-occurrence of these kinds of incidents in future.”
Police spokesperson colonel Priscilla Naidu confirmed the incident. She said that the child was taken to hospital and died on April 19.
