MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday 1 October 2014
EMBARGO: Immediate
NON COMPLIANCE MAIN REASON FOR CRÉCHE APPLICATION TURNED DOWN
Council recently refused the application of Boekenhout Creche, also known as "Smarties", to
operate a crèche with a capacity of 50 children from Erf 2443 in Boekenhout Street, Knysna.
Acting Executive Mayor Esmé Edge said that the safety and well-being of children and the
youth are a main concern of the municipality. "As a Local Government organisation we have
the responsibility to ensure that the criteria, as set out by the Western Cape Provincial
Government and Eden District Municipality, to run a crèche as a business, are met, before
we grant approval for such business to go ahead. It is also important to note that there are
serious traffic concerns surrounding the site of the crèche since it is situated on a blind
corner, which could endanger the lives of the children."
She continued to say that the municipality has been liaising with the owners of the crèche
with regard to non-compliance for more than a year. "We first made contact in March 2013
when we received a complaint about the school. At this stage they were operating illegally,
and were requested to submit the relevant documentation. Despite continuous efforts from
the relevant department to obtain the outstanding information, when the matter went to
Council last week, some info was still not forthcoming. Another problem came to light when
the letter with the bond holder's consent, as required by legislation, only granted approval for
the crèche, which is housed in a particular section of the property, to have a maximum of
three children."
Edge said "As far as we can we have to ensure the proper care and safety of the children in
our municipal area and we simply cannot approve applications unless all the required
documentation and processes are in order and adhered to."
ENDS
Knysna Municipality Communications Department
P O Box 21. Knysna. 6570. Western Cape. South Africa
Tel +27 (0)44 302 6300 (switchboard) or 302 6471 (direct)
Fax +27 (0)86 215 4818 e-mail [email protected]