22 Apr 2013

The assistant coordinator for Mpule Kwelagobe Children’s Centre (MKCC), Ms Lerato Lekoba says acute shortage of accommodation is a major concern at the centre.

Ms Lekoba said this during the centre’s tour by the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Olebile Gaborone recently.

The situation, she said, has affected the house mothers, who had to share a room or even sleep with children in small rooms.

"They could not register to their full capacity due to the problem of accommodation," she added.

Currently, she said, they take care of 50 children instead of 60, adding that the 22 house mothers had to share rooms in pairs, something which denied them the privacy they deserved.

She explained that accommodation was still a challenge despite the recent funding for basic needs  from government.

" Jwaneng Mine has also donated the facilities and but still there are no funds for renovation."

Furthermore, Ms Lekoba noted that the centre did not have operational guidelines; something which she said created conflict between management and employees.

She noted that a draft of the guidelines had been submitted to the ministry and they are awaiting feedback.

She also noted that the employees were subjected to long working hours due to staff shortage, with some forced to work 24 hours per day in some instances.

Lack of overtime pay for social workers, was also a problem because employees were expected to take day-offs but it has not been  feasible due to work load.

For his part,  assistant minister commended the centre’s employees for the good work they were doing for the community, saying they should acknowledge theirs as a calling and not ordinary employment because they were dealing with special children who had experienced difficult situations.

“These kids need love and care, which they somehow could not get from their original homes, and therefore yours is a special assignment,” he said.

He applauded them for their devoted services, saying it only took compassion to be in that field. 

The Jwaneng mayor, Mr Amos Jahana pleaded with the assistant minister to address the issue of accommodation shortage, saying no one should be subjected to such unsatisfactory conditions like the house mothers.

He also said different delegations had visited MKCC in the past but there had not been any feedback regarding how the challenges would be addressed.

He underscored the need to fund renovations of the buildings at MKCC so that employees would be provided with proper accommodation and their privacy. ENDS