Johannesburg - The Gauteng provincial government has stepped in to ensure justice for babies that were abused by minders at a Johannesburg daycare centre this week, the Gauteng social development department said in a statement on Saturday.
The incident was captured in a video clip dubbed “nanny from hell” by the media and which was doing the rounds on social media. In the video, a childminder or minders were seen assaulting young babies. One of the children was choked to the brink of unconsciousness.
Appalled social development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza immediately assigned social workers to investigate the matter. Her department would ensure that those responsible were brought to book and that the families were assisted to pursue both criminal and civil proceedings, she said.
“We are happy the matter is already reported to the police. On our part, we have assigned a team of social workers to the case. We will continue with investigations and will act once all the information is verified. This will include an onsite visit to the centre,” she said.
The Gauteng government was extremely worried about recent incidents where children were placed in harm's way, Mayathula-Khoza said. She was referring to reports of decomposed bodies of children found blindfolded, gagged, and bound in Slovoville, Soweto, Johannesburg.
“It is unacceptable that we are picking up decomposed bodies of children in the veld. It hurts deeply because as government we do all we can to ensure that children’s basic human rights are protected and their well-being is promoted. Such incidents fly in the face of our efforts of ensuring that children are safe in this province,” Mayathula-Khoza said.