Kempton Child Welfare elects new committee
Having been taken under the national office's administration last year, the welfare has been slowly working towards getting back onto its feet
KEMPTON Park Child Welfare recently elected a brand new board committee during the organisation’s 50th AGM.
The AGM was held on March 9 at the Maranatha Community Church.
Having been taken under the national office’s administration in March last year, Kempton Child Welfare has been slowly working towards getting back on its feet.
The national office took over the management and oversight of the Kempton office while investigations into allegations of mismanagement and governance of the office continue.
This after the dissolution of the previous committee, including the axing of the former director, Karin Engelbrecht.
“The year under review has focused on ensuring that proper governance structures are in place and the organisation can be placed back to its status of autonomy. Staff members from both the local and national office have worked tirelessly to ensure that this is achieved,” acting chairperson Celeste van Niekerk announced during her report.
This also includes the appointment of a new director, Zodwa Mzondo, who took over in December last year, as well as the new members of the organisation. This enabled child welfare to hold an AGM and also elect a new board.
Speaking for the first time as director of the office, Mzondo emphasised that although the organisation has been facing some challenges in the past year, child welfare would no doubt continue being the “preferred and acknowledged service provider” for child protection related matters and providing much-needed social services to families in Kempton.
“In the three months that I have been here I have learned one language: that the protection of children is vital and child protection procedures must be effective and be benchmarked against international norms and standards of child protection procedures,” Mzondo said.
“Therefore as a director I had to revise our mission and vision, which include strengthening and improving child protection services through multi-intersectoral public protection panels. And also that all child protection services are provided in a manner which acknowledges cultural diversity, right to family life and equality.”
Following the director’s report, the new committee was elected and then announced, which is made up of 11 members who will elect their office bearers at their first meeting. This will be the interim board before full administration is given back to the Kempton office.
Child Welfare would also like to thank Maranatha Community Church for offering a free venue to host its AGM.
