Minister Ms. Lindiwe Zulu along with MEC of Education Mr. Bonakele Majuba and NDA Board Deputy Chairperson Chief Livhuwani Matsila take a tour around the new facility at the Nazarene Educare & Pre-school centre in Mqobaneni Village.

Today, SASSA KZN has joined the Provincial Government of KwaZulu-Natal led by the Premier Ms. Nomusa Dube-Ncube to provide government services on wheels during the Freedom Month Activation Program at UMzumbe Municipality.

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SASSA is rendering services at the North West Provincial Government-led programme of Thuntsha Lerole at Sunway on the outskirts of Brits near Hartebeespoort. The initiative is aimed at confronting critical service delivery issues.

Social Development
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MEC of Social Development in Mpumalanga Ms. Lindiwe Ntshalintshali and MEC of Education in Mpumalanga Mr. Bonakele Majuba officially opens the newly built facility at the Nazarene Educare Centre.

The Institute for Economic Justice has launched a 4 minute animated video on what South Africa could be like in 2026 after the introduction of a Basic Income Grant (BIG).

Minister Lindiwe Zulu arrives at the Nazarene Educare Centre in Mqobaneni Village for the official handover, and is joined by the MEC of Social development in Mpumalanga Ms Lindiwe Ntshalintshali and Deputy chairperson of the NDA Chief Livhuwani Matsila.
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ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Media enquiries may be forwarded to Ms Lumka Oliphant on 0834848067/e-mail: [email protected]

Media RSVPs may be directed to Ms Sharlene Naiker on 082 673 5849/ e-mail: [email protected] or Ms Nomfundo Lentsoane on 066 480 6845 /e-mail: [email protected]

Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the official handover ceremony scheduled as follows:
Date:​​Friday, 12 April 2024
Time:​​10h00-13h00
Venue:​Nazarene Educare Centre, Mqobaneni Village – Mpumalanga

The Ministerial visit will include a community engagement with local community members.

At the official handover ceremony, Minister Zulu will be joined by Mpumalanga MEC of Social Development, Ms Lindiwe Ntshalintshali and MEC of Education, Mr Bonakele Majuba.

This is all part of Government’s efforts to attain universal access to quality ECD services in line with Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the transfer of ECD function from the Department of Social Development to Basic Education in order to expand access to early childhood development and improving early-grade reading.

Giving every child the best start in life through access to early learning that is engaging and builds success for life is extremely important.

According to South Africa's Census 2022 national results, 3.4 million children aged 0 - 4 years attended ECD programmes in 2022, of which 2.5 million attended a crèche/educare centre or pre-school/nursery school/Grade 00/Grade 000/Grade R.

Significant progress has been made in terms of provision of Early Childhood Development (ECD) services in South Africa after the first democratic elections in 1994.

Research shows that the first 5 years of life of a child’s life are instrumental. This is because the first 5 years is when children’s learning and behavioural foundations are established for life, through developing connections, building relationships and exploring their world.

Given that the majority of the children at the centre are vulnerable households, 70 of children currently receive a subsidy of R17 per child per day from the Department of Basic Education.

The centre currently provides access to early learning opportunities for 118 children between the ages of 0-4 years.