“Kids are being abused, hurt and burned with cigarettes. That’s what’s happening and what many people don’t know.”

As Kyle Tolman, founder of Cross Connect Community Outreach (CCCO) and House Nehemiah explained the extent of child abuse and the lack of safe havens for children of all ages on the West Rand, you’d think he was referring to a foreign, underdeveloped country – not the very town we call home. But, the situation in and around Krugersdorp is more dire than many realise.

House Nehemiah opened its doors nearly two months ago to create a safe haven where single mothers and their children could go until they could get back on their feet. The plan was also to take in children on their own once they’ve received permission from the Department of Social Development (DSD).

“The various welfare organisations call me every day, asking if we have space,” Kyle said. “They’re the only ones who have statutory rights, meaning they’re allowed to conduct investigations and remove children. But, they have nowhere to take these kids. The other day two children who needed placement were sent to the Walter Sisulu Child and Youth Care Centre. It was the only place where there was room for them.”

Kyle estimates that there is space for about 200 children in need in and around town, but that the need for space is closer to 1 000.

The court is currently placing children with us under our caregivers, but the DSD is not at all happy with this arrangement. The issue they have is that we don’t have our Form 30s but they’re the ones who have to give us the 30s,” Kyle explained.

The purpose of a Form 30 is to confirm that a person is not on the sexual offenders list, and without this form, Kyle explained, they’re not allowed to take children in without their guardians (such as their mothers) present as well.

Kyle said, “Our employees fill in Form 29s, that’s for working with children. A 30 is the same, but applies when working with children in foster care.

The problem is that DSD is nine months behind. The result is that, suppose you are willing to foster a child who needs a place to stay tonight, and you’re prepared to accommodate him/ her temporarily for a few months, or even just a week, you need a Form 30. They’d rather place children back into that negative environment than place them in your care.

“In the past you got the Form 30 within 21 days. I submitted my Form 30 in November 2019 and just received it three weeks ago. Consequently, you can’t appoint anyone to work with foster children without a Form 30. That’s the biggest obstacle for this type of work on the West Rand.”

Right now, Nehemiah takes in the few children the court assigns to them, but Kyle is not sure for how long as pressure from DSD is mounting. On top of that, the house that was meant to take in mothers and their children now struggles to do so.

We have a bunch of young kids, so we can’t take in older children; for example you cannot place a 16-year-old boy in the same house as a nine-year-old girl … Many of these children come from traumatic backgrounds where there was, for example, sexual abuse.

“You have to consider the ages and backgrounds of the children you take in.”