Registration for a Day Care Business in South Africa

by De Freitas
(Pretoria, South Africa)

Hi I am a registered day mother, I would like to register for more kids. What are the procedures for the registration for a Day Care Business in South Africa?

Our Response

Let me first pass a message to the parents who may be reading this:
Running (and taking a child to) an unregistered daycare centre or crèche is a huge risk for both a parent and a crèche owner. A number of people do take that risk without thinking of the consequences. In October 2010, a Five-month-old baby from the Western Cape fell from a bed at an unregistered Day Care centre and died. An accident can happen with the registered facilities too but taking a child to a registered child care facility is in the best interest of the parent. The registration procedures ensures that the minimum standards are adhered to. A parent has a right to ask for a registration certificate of the facility at any point.

The procedure for registering a a Day Care Business in South Africa according to the Children Amendment Act No.41 of 2007 (and Department of Social Development) is:

Step 1
Contact the social worker in your district office to get information and arrange for an interview.
The social worker will explain the Child Care Act and Registration requirements with you. He/she will take you through the registration procedures, minimum standards, subsidization procedures and monitoring evaluation processes.

Step 2
You will also get your application form and some guidelines from the social worker. You need to have your day care facility’s menu, daily programme and needs assessment form ready. You can see already that you will need some form of training. That can be obtained part time from a number of institutions.

Also accompanying the application will be a lease agreement from your landlord for the facility, your staff recruitment criteria and your grievance and disciplinary procedures.

No incomplete forms will be accepted. All documents required are to be submitted with the application form to enable the evaluation process for registration to begin.

Step 3
When the properly completed application form and all relevant documents have been received, the social worker will:
•Visit the premises
•Inform the environmental health officer by letter
•Inform other relevant stakeholders by letter, for example Department of Education, that an application for registration has been received.

Step 4
When the health clearance certificate and / or other reports have been received, the social worker completes the checklist of all requirements detailed in Steps 2 and 3 and if these have been met, issues a provisional registration certificate (valid for one year). During this time a subsidy may be granted to the centre to enable them to meet the minimum standards.

The following conditions need to be met first:
•Administrative and financial management systems have to be satisfactory
•Services provided to the children in terms of physical, emotional, intellectual and social care have to be satisfactory
•The physical condition of the centre has to be satisfactory
•The general functioning of the centre has to be satisfactory.

If not satisfactory, the social worker or other official employed and authorized by the provincial Department of Social Development will continue to consult, advise, empower, build capacity and review the facility.

Step 5
The social worker or other official employed and authorized by the provincial Department of Social Development will monitor the centre for one year and do an assessment of the services offered by the centre, including:
•the general care of the children
•administrative systems
•financial systems

If satisfactory, a full registration certificate will be issued (valid for 2 years) and a subsidy may be paid.
If not satisfactory, the provisional certificate will be extended for a further 6 months during which a subsidy may be paid.
If the centre does not meet the minimum standards after this 6 month period it will be shut down.

Step 6
The centre must be monitored by the social worker or other official employed and authorized by the provincial Department of Social Development for two years. A developmental quality assurance assessment must be done and the registration certificate will be renewed or withdrawn.
A centre has to re-register when an applicant intends to:
•move the centre to another building or premises
•extend or decrease the size of the existing structure
•increase the number of children enrolled
•sell the business
•change ownership.

The procedure for re-registration is the same as for registration.

WHO SHOULD REGISTER A DAY CARE CENTRE IN SOUTH AFRICA

South African citizen, organization or community who has or intends to set up an ECD Centre, must contact the nearest office of the Department of Social Development/ offices of social workers.