EDITORIAL | Dear crèches, the safety of our children is your responsibility

For the first few years of their lives, our children are at their most vulnerable. Inquisitive and curious, but fragile. They need us to protect them. 

One of a parent’s biggest anxieties is sending their child to school for the first time. Letting a stranger watch their precious bundle of joy and giving them that near-sacred responsibility of keeping them from harm. 

So the blood ran cold for many this week when two-year-old Kganya Mokhele was reportedly crushed by a bookshelf that fell on him. He died just months before his third birthday. 

The boy, who attended Little Ashford preschool in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, reportedly reached for a toy on a two-metre-tall bookshelf when it fell. He was taken to hospital, where he was certified dead. 

The tragic incident can be seen as a freak accident, but an investigation by both the school and the Gauteng education department is under way to understand it more clearly. 

Initial media reports and remarks from Mokhele’s family suggest there may be an argument for negligence. 

The hours and days that will follow need to be ones of introspection. 

The government also has a part to play in ensuring the safety of children. Theirs is to ensure that all early childhood development centres comply with safety regulations.

For a start, was the child properly supervised? Toddlers are active and require constant supervision, so there needs to be a trained childminder at all times. Mokhele’s family suggested staff were in the room but were distracted by their phones when the incident happened.  

Many preschools, including upmarket ones Little Ashford is often seen as, go out of their way to minimise potential harm by avoiding tables with sharp edges, installing safety gates between areas, anchoring items of furniture and limiting the size of bookshelves. 

Parents go out of their way to make sure their homes are baby-proofed and expect the same precautions will be met at the schools they send their children to. A bookcase cannot have toys and books on it, drawing the attention of young hands, if it is not safe to use. 

As the start of the school year drew to a close, there was construction and “redecorating” at several nursery schools. This may be for the betterment of those who attend the school but cannot happen when children are on the premises.  

The government also has a part to play in ensuring the safety of children. Theirs is to ensure that all early childhood development centres comply with safety regulations. That these regulations are spelt out, implemented and far-reaching; and that they are not open to manipulation and corruption.  

Crèche owners and government need to ask hard questions about tightening regulations and monitoring. There should be regular safety checks and compliance. 

It takes a village to raise a child. Let it not be said of South African children that the village was asleep when tragedy struck.