On Monday, Potters Haven Foster House for Children, became the epicentre of a dispute between Selcourt residents and the house mother of Potters Haven.
The quarrel erupted after the residents stopped in front of the gate of Potters Haven with two black bags full of clothing which they wanted to give to the children.
The one resident has three step-grandchildren currently residing at Potters Haven.
According to the law, a family member of a child in foster care must make an appointment with social services in order to see the child, and can only see the child after the court has given them the go-ahead.
This is what made Marlene Minnie, house mother of Potters Haven, see red when she realised who wanted to donate the clothes and why.
“They wanted to donate the clothes under false pretences, their only goal was to see the children without going through the proper steps,” says Marlene.
The residents deny these accusations and said that they did not go there with the intention of seeing the children but merely to give one of the boy’s clothes, which they received from another family member.
The resident told Marlene that the clothes that do not fit the boy, can be handed out to the rest of the children.
Marlene then refused to take the clothes as she said she does not want to remind the children of a past they’d rather forget and said that the residents had no right being there.
“Why didn’t they give the bags to a welfare organisation so that they, in turn, could bring the clothes to us?”
The residents say Marlene refused the acceptance of the clothes and a younger man, Marlene’s son, took the bags and dumped them in a field across the road.
Marlene has confirmed that her son did indeed put the bags on the side of the road as the resident allegedly became very hostile and refused to put the bags in their car.
The bags were then put on the side of the road and the resident was told to take them with because Marlene declined the offer.
In explanation, Marlene said these children are taken away from their parents due to undesirable living conditions and whatever else the individual children had to go through in their home.
“This is a place where these children can have a new beginning and a new life, not be reminded of what they went through by being given clothes from other relatives.”
The three boys are currently seeing a psychologist and Marlene does not want to risk anything that will give them a set-back.
“What made my blood boil was when they gave the bags full of clothes and then said ‘Can I see my grandchildren now?'” said Marlene.
“My job as a foster parent is to protect these children and their rights.”
The residents say that they did phone in advance and was told it would be no problem if they want to drop off the clothes at Potters Haven.
Marlene says that whoever gave her this permission had no right to do so.
“The court has to give the permission.”
Marlene also said that she only follows court orders.
“If a child is dropped off here, I follow the orders on the papers from the court,” says Marlene.
The residents again denied that they went under false pretences and said that they were fully aware of the rules and regulations of making appointments.
“She just assumed we were there under the pretence to see the children, she never gave us a chance to correct her and have our say,” says the resident, “she started screaming and shouting at us before we could have a word in.”
Marlene does not deny being angry as she couldn’t believe that the resident thought she could just stop in front of the gate without any consequences.
The residents said if they wanted to see the children they would have gone through the gate which was opened for them on arrival, but they did not as they say they knew that would be against the rules.
Marlene said the resident has no visitation rights whatsoever in the first place.
“I am only protecting the 20 children that are living here,” says Marlene.
