Education

23.     My department has informed me of the following:

          The specific procedures and costs per municipality would need to be obtained from the relevant municipality.

          (a)    In general:

                   The Western Cape Education Department, social service organisations and the relevant municipalities are all responsible for the process for the registering ECDs.

                   If a facility or person takes care of more than 6 children on behalf of their parents/caregivers during specific hours of the day or night for a temporary period, then they have to register as an ECD.

                   The registration process starts with an application to the relevant municipal office who assess and consider compliance in terms of various requirements, such as:

• Compliance to zoning
• Land Use and Building compliance
• Fire and Safety compliance
• Environmental Health and food preparation compliance

Once the necessary clearance certificates have been obtained, a Social Services Organization (SSO) will do a site visit and a report will be submitted to the WCED for registration approval consideration. A registration certificate is then issued if approval is granted. The organization can then qualify for a subsidy for their institution.

                   There is no standardized process for obtaining the required documentation to complete the process across municipalities.

         (b)    In general:

               The costs also differ across municipalities and the requirements needed to ensure compliance per facility.  It could cost, for example, an unregistered facility between R30 000 to R50 000 to put systems and structures in place to comply with municipal bylaws.

               This is also dependent on the size of the property and the level of outstanding compliance areas identified by the municipality.