GEORGE NEWS - The December holidays were devastating for Isiseko Educare Centre in Tabata Street, Thembalethu.
The crèche was broken into twice and all the electrical equipment was trashed and strewn on the office floor.
On Friday 9 January one of the teachers walked past the back of the building and saw that the kitchen door was open. She called Principal Vuyglwa Mtuze, who hurried to the premises. The door had been broken open, yet strangely nothing was stolen but the computer, printer, fax machine and copier were in pieces on the floor.
Mtuze said the crèche was supposed to open on Wednesday 14 January. "The crèche has nothing and we have to clean up before we can allow the children to enter the premises."
In an earlier incident, a teacher came to the office on Monday 15 December as she had to phone through information to the Department of Social Welfare, only to discover that the cash drawer was open and the staff's stokvel (traditional savings scheme in which members contribute a fixed amount of money to a common pool for distribution on a rotational basis) to the value of R23 200 was missing. There was no sign of forced entry and the matter was reported to the police. Mtuze called Christmas "a bleak time for the staff".
Asked why the alarm did not go off, the principal claimed they could not buy electricity as the municipality had blocked their account "as the crèche is in arrears with its municipal accounts".
In response Municipal Manager Trevor Botha said that Isiseko Educare Centre's electricity account was not blocked on the dates referred. "The client bought electricity on 10 December and again on 13 January. The George Municipality has an indigent policy and urges all qualifying people and organisations to apply for this aid."
The staff members are hoping to open the crèche soon but say they need help and are appealing to the public to come forward with donations. The contact number is 072 211 1521.
'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
