DURBAN - The Malvern Child and Youth Care Centre in Durban made an urgent plea to the public to make contributions towards its huge eThekwini municipal bill amounting to over R300 000.
The home is a safe haven for 72 vulnerable and orphaned children between the ages of three to 18 years, with 11 separate houses on the premises.
The plea to assist with the over R324 000 bill was made in a post on the home’s Facebook page on Wednesday.
“It is with great sadness that we, as a home, find ourselves in this situation again. We tried to hold on, but with all the changes going on around South Africa, we have suffered the most as our financial constraints became more demanding and we could not pay the municipal bill consistently,” said the home.
This comes after the home was issued with a disconnection notice from the city, giving them 14 days to pay.
The home called on Durban residents to help them with a monthly contribution of R50, which can be paid directly to the municipality.
“If each person can pay R50 towards the municipal bill each month, that would help a lot. Whoever wants to help can pay the R50 directly to the municipality. Details are on the pictures below,” said the home.
Speaking to The Mercury today, the home’s director Andile Ncamana said the situation is a nightmare.
Ncamana said the operational costs to run the home are very high, and if members of the public are able to donate R50 every month, it would be able to continue to run.
He said 80% of the subsidy received from the Department of Social Development goes towards staff salaries.
“We paid R25 000 this month for fuel alone. We have to buy food, school uniforms and stationery and don't have the cash flow to pay the bill,” added Ncamana.
The bill shows an agreement with the city to pay instalments of R14 090 a month.
An amount of R15 000 was paid to the municipality earlier this month.
However, the bill states that an overdue amount of over R261 000 is due immediately.
“Please note that your account remains in arrears. Should payment not be received, we advise that legal action will be instituted,” said a warning on the bill.
Commenting on the post, residents expressed their anger over the situation.
One resident said: “It is shocking that eThekwini Municipality does not give free electricity to this well-established, well-run home but allows the theft of electricity to squatter areas.”
“This is disgusting. These kids need this home,” said another resident.
A donation of R1000 was paid into the account by one resident while a few others requested the banking details.
In 2019, The Mercury’s sister publication, the Daily News, reported that eThekwini Municipality wrote off the Malvern Children’s Home’s R284 000 rates bill, which added to their municipal bill reaching more than R1 million.
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