FIVE years after a fire that gutted the Edith Benson Babies’ Home in Sherwood, Sibaya Community Trust is partnering with Child Welfare Durban and District to rebuild the establishment. Early in 2018, a fire broke out at the Edith Benson Children’s Home, destroying the wing that housed the babies.

Vivian Reddy, chairperson of Sibaya Casino and Sibaya Community Trust, said that the Trust was always committed to ensuring the babies’ home was rebuilt, however, the implications of Covid-19, together with other factors, made it impossible to start the project any sooner.

“Five years ago, we all felt the pain when this babies’ home was gutted by the fire. And unfortunately, it took a few years to get it going, but we are finally ready to break ground. We are here now with our contribution of R7.5m to turn around the fate of this babies’ home. We, at the Sibaya Trust, are passionate about helping children, and this is something that we could not walk away from,” said Reddy.

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Over 60 babies were housed in this facility and had to be displaced. President of Child Welfare Durban and District, Desmond Msomi, praised Reddy for his assistance and said he was very humble. “This building got burnt in 2018, and you can still see some of the burnt remains. It was scary when you look at how big the building was and how the fire was able to reduce it to this size. After a few minutes, everything was destroyed,” said Msomi.

Msomi said he was happy that they were going to revive the building and that they appreciated the donations that will be used for the structure of the home. He said this is an exciting time for the organisation as the legacy project worth millions is taking off.

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“We plan to house 70 children in the renovated babies’ home. Those children will need to be maintained and cared for, but people in Durban have very good hearts. I know people will be encouraged to donate as soon as the building starts to be rebuilt,” said Msomi.

The Department of Social Development’s acting chief director, Rosemary Ntombela, said that eThekwini Metro is where the bulk of abandoned children are found. “This initiative will be of greatest benefit to the department and this community. The department would like to thank the Sibaya Community Trust for making sure that vulnerable children in need of care are taken care of.”

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