The Western Cape government is to blame for the asphyxiation of a baby at an unregistered day-care centre‚, despite the 'excuses and bald denials' of ts social development department.
The Times reports a judge has found. Five-month-old Ava Barley was asphyxiated after she rolled off a bed at a Cape Town day-care in 2010‚ and Judge Daniel Dlodlo found that despite its excuses and “bald denials” of responsibility the WC Social Development Department was liable to pay damages to her parents‚ Craig and Riette.
The report says the Barleys also won a negligence case against the owner of Aunty Dawn’s Daycare Centre in Pinelands‚ Dawn Moore‚ but the court heard that she had emigrated to the UK and ignored a summons served on her there. “She’s done a runner‚” Craig Barley is quoted in the report as saying, adding that he and his wife were relieved by the judgment in the High Court in Cape Town but had not yet felt emotionally ready to read it.
Barley said the couple “lost everything in one day” on 14 October‚ 2010‚ when Moore found Ava’s body trapped between her double bed and bedside table 45 minutes after putting her to sleep between some pillows. Since Ava’s death‚ the Barleys have had two more daughters – Erin‚ 5‚ and Eve‚ 1 – and their eldest child‚ Chloe‚ is now 10. “We’ve been very blessed‚ but we had to go to court to help other parents‚” said Craig.
“We want to draw attention to how day-cares are run. You walk into a place‚ it looks legit‚ there are certificates on the wall‚ there’s a website‚ but it turns out that it’s actually dangerous.
“Only after a horrible accident like what happened to Ava do you realise what’s actually going on.”
The report says in his judgment‚ Dlodlo said Moore applied to the social development department for registration of her day-care in February 2008 but received no more than an acknowledgment. By the time of Ava’s death‚ she was looking after 15 babies and toddlers but had only three cots.
Neither Moore nor her only employee‚ a domestic worker‚ had qualifications or training to look after infants or toddlers‚ and investigations after Ava’s death uncovered “severe health and safety risks”.
Patricia de Lille‚ MEC for social development at the time‚ announced a six-month amnesty for more than 2,000 unregistered day-cares in the Western Cape after Ava’s death‚ saying: “The amnesty period represents an opportunity for all of us – government‚ creche owners and parents alike – to start complying with the Children’s Act‚ which is there to protect and nurture our children.”
But, the report says, expert witness Terrance November‚ a social worker at the Early Learning Resource Unit in Lansdowne‚ told Dlodlo that the Western Cape still had numerous unregistered daycares. The law said applications should be dealt with in six months‚ he said‚ but some creches had been waiting five years.
November is quoted in the report as saying that lawyers had advised him not to comment further. Sihle Ngobese‚ spokesperson for social development MEC Albert Fritz‚ said he was unable to respond to detailed questions because the judgment was still being studied. The department has 30 days to appeal.
Dlodlo said the department’s arguments in court had “significant shortcomings”. And in spite of Ava’s death‚ “I find it completely strange and unacceptable that on 31 January 2013 (some five years after first applying for registration)‚ Moore’s attorneys were still desperately trying to get the department to register her early childhood development facility”.
He added: “The department’s failure to comply with its statutory duties seriously compromised the care and safety of the children at (Aunty Dawn’s)‚ and this caused or materially contributed towards the death of Ava.
“The department’s failure resulted in a breach of Ava’s fundamental right to the safety and security of her person. This failure thus infringed Ava’s most fundamental right to life.
“I state categorically that the department did not present sufficient evidence to demonstrate that there were resource constraints which justified its failure to act.”
Another court hearing will decide the damages the Western Cape government and Moore must pay to the Barleys.
[link url="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2017-07-03-judge-blames-baby-avas-daycare-death-on-de-lilles-old-department/"]The Times report[/link]