The aunt of a four-month-old baby who died at a daycare centre in Impala Park, Ekurhuleni, on Tuesday, took to social media soon afterwards and described the harrowing events that unfolded that afternoon.
An emotional Robyn Mbonani said on TikTok that her sister, Ayanda Motsoane, received a call from the school, Happy Owls in Shackleton Street, at about 15:30 and was told her daughter was not breathing.
“My sister called me because I am the nearest to the crèche. I rushed over. When I got there paramedics were present and we got the famous line that they ‘tried all they could’. The child was no more.”
Mbonani said the baby girl, Mmuso, was fine and healthy when her sister dropped her off that morning.
“We asked what happened. We were at the school until around 21:00, and still didn’t have answers. The teachers were kept in a separate room.”
The school apparently shared CCTV footage of which Mbonani said information and times were ‘missing’.
According to her, trauma counsellors were on the scene.
“One told a teacher to ‘get away from this unnecessary drama’ when the family was asking questions.
“When my sister arrived and went to hold her baby, the child had milk coming out of her nose and mouth. In the footage they were showing us you can see the teacher taking a feeding bottle and placing it in the four-month-old’s mouth.
“What are you expecting the child to do? Must the child hold the bottle to drink? Why did she leave the bottle there and go attend to the two other children she was taking care of?”
What apparently then transpired on the footage is that staff started to panic and tried to revive the baby – at about 14:30.
“They only called my sister at 15:30. What were you guys (staff) doing in that hour? One of them could have taken the child to one of their cars and rushed her to hospital. We want justice for Mmuso.”
Family concern
A father whose child was at the school at the time of the tragedy spoke to Boksburg Advertiser and described the school as well looked after and well invested in.
It is a family concern run by Tina Coetzer and her daughter, Corien van der Wath.
According to the parent Boksburg Advertiser spoke to, the first communication revealing a baby had died was sent to parents by the management at around 21:40 on Tuesday.
They initially said the school would be closed until Thursday but then, the next afternoon, sent another communication that they had decided to close for the entire week. Management said they would close to ‘allow for a thorough review of our procedures and to provide support to our staff’.
Boksburg Advertiser attempted to reach both women for comment via phone and WhatsApp, but its calls and messages remained unanswered until late yesterday afternoon when Coetzer sent a phone number for the ‘family spokesperson’.
He answered Boksburg Advertiser’s calls but declined to speak at the time as he said he was in court. No further WhatsApp messages were answered.
SAPS provincial spokesperson Captain Tintswalo Sibeko confirmed an inquest docket was opened at Boksburg North SAPS.
Reaction from parents
Parents whose four-year-old daughter attended Happy Owls Daycare since she was five months old, found placement for her at another school on Thursday, last week.
The couple, who asked to remain anonymous, said they have to think of the safety of their child first, despite not having had any major concerns about care at the school over the years.
The scenes of ‘chaos’ that awaited them when they fetched their daughter on Tuesday afternoon were preceded by a WhatsApp message from the school that read: “An incident occurred at the school. We ask if you can please pick up the kids earlier from school.”
“We were on our way to the school when the message came through and, as you can imagine, we were immediately very concerned.
“When we arrived, we saw an ambulance, armed response services and the police. It was very upsetting,” said the dad.
Despite immediately asking what had happened, no answers were forthcoming as one of the teacher assistants quickly handed them their child’s bag and said goodbye.
“The assistant said she didn’t know what had happened. I’m a qualified medic and know that when you see an ambulance and the police on a scene there has more than likely been a death.
“I thought it may have been someone in the owners’ of the school’s family and sent the manager, who is the daughter of the owner, a message that night to say we were thinking of them, although we had no idea what had transpired.”
At about 20:00 that night, parents received a statement from the school saying a baby had died.
“We were shocked and devastated for the parents. Our sincere condolences go out to them. We are crying with them.”
The dad estimated there were about 50 children at Happy Owls and said they take children from four months to five years.
He believes there were about eight to 12 babies in their care at the time of the incident, under the supervision of four assistants.
“We are simply in shock. We feel numb. My advice to other parents in this situation is to follow their gut instinct and put the welfare of their child first.
“Fortunately, the school shielded the children from the chaos of the incident quite well and our daughter didn’t ask questions.
“She was a bit upset when we told her she is going to another school now, which is a pity as school is such a big part of her life.”
The dad concluded that they deemed it unfair for the school to have closed its doors as it put pressure on parents who cannot work from home, but he said he understood their reasoning.
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