Shoprite renovates safe house for 21 children

Emma Makhatini’s residence in Blue Downs, also known as the Ethembeni Educare & Children’s Care Centre, is home to 21 children who call her ‘mommy’. As a widowed pensioner, Makhatini could not afford to upgrade her security, which put her at risk of losing her Department of Social Development (DSD) registration.

The DSD registration affords Makhatini the discretion to continue running her safe house for orphaned and abused children, so to ensure this happens, the Shoprite Group took hands with New Kidz to implement the required safety upgrades.  This includes the installation of security gates, a carport, burglar bars and a fresh coat of paint.

These children are all my children and when social workers knock on my door to help more children I always try to assist. Now, thanks to all the renovations, this will be much easier to do. Thank you Shoprite for helping me give these children a safe place to call home.

- Emma Makhatini (71), Ethembeni Educare & Children’s Care Centre

To celebrate the revamp, staff from Shoprite’s home office volunteered their time to paint a mural at Ethembeni and to spend some time with the children this past Saturday.

Ethembeni was one of our volunteerism projects on Mandela Day earlier this year. As a company with heart that always reaches out to the communities in which we operate, it’s been an honour to take hands with Emma to ensure that this remarkable woman keeps her DSD registration.

- Adele Lambrechts, Shoprite Group PR, Communications & CSI Manager

As a business with heart Shoprite is committed to #ActForChange by empowering and supporting women, like Makhatini, who work hard to make a meaningful difference in their communities.