Gaye Davis
PARLIAMENT’S creche — vaunted as a symbol of the new government’s commitment to gender equality — has closed because of staffing problems, forcing MPs and other parents to make other arrangements for the care of their children.
Parliamentary under-secretary Robbie Karreman said it was hoped the creche, which closed two weeks ago and catered for about 30 offspring of MPs and parliamentary workers, would reopen as soon as next Wednesday.
Service officers seconded from their regular jobs in parliament had said they wanted to return to their old posts as evaluations were imminent, Karreman said. Efforts were now underway to employ trained child-care workers on a contract basis until permanent staff could be advertised for and appointed, he said.
ANC MP Joyce Mashamba said the creche — named Nhlangano, or “coming together” — had brought MPs and workers’ children “together for the first time”. Her brother was caring for four-year-old Vongani.
“What worries me are the workers who relied on the creche — MPs can maybe cope,” she said.