The DA-led Overstrand municipality has assisted two Early Childhood Development Centres (ECD) to enable them to supply a vital service to communities in Masakhane and Buffeljachtsbaai.
Maximising the quantity and quality of ECD facilities in municipalities, to improve the development opportunities of all children, is a key part of the DA’s offer.
In mid-July Mayor Dudley Coetzee attended the official opening of the revamped Good Hope Early Learning Centre in Masakhane, a neighbourhood of Gansbaai. The centre accommodates 94 pre-schoolers and 12 staff members.
The centre was started in 2013 by local resident Lingiswa Nyandeni when she cared for 15 young children in her own informal dwelling. Soon thereafter the Overstrand Municipality, Flower Valley Conservation Trust’s early ECD programme and the Western Cape Department of Social Development partnered with Lingiswa to tackle some of the many challenges involved with running an ECD.
Eventually, with additional support from the municipality and the community, the Good Hope Centre was able to move to the current school building. The centre has also received support from I-Med Vision (a non-profit organisation), Grootbos Foundation and an abalone farming company operating in Gansbaai and Hermanus, Aqunion.
In 2001 the Groenewald family of Buffeljachtsbaai donated an unused structure to be used as a pre-school for the area’s children. In 2003 the Municipality installed ablution facilities and a playground and Flower Valley donated funds to expand the school and assisted with the training of personnel. However, in 2013/14 the school was forced to move to the community hall because the structure was in a bad condition.
Cooperating with the Overstrand Municipality, Irvin & Johnson (I&J), Flower Valley Conservation Trust’s Early Childhood Development Programme, the Lighthouse to Lighthouse (L2L) ladies and local businesses such as Gansbaai Spar and Build-It all contributed to make the new I&J Seesterretjies Crèche possible. The facility will now be able to accommodate 40 children.
