Cape Town - After having struggled for three years since the inception of the Western Cape Child Commissioner (WCCC), was formed, a premises for the office of the commissioner has been identified and will soon be moved into.
This has been confirmed by both the Commissioner and provincial Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW).
In her recent annual 2020/2021 report, tabled in parliament, WCCC commissioner Christine Nomdo said they had “envisioned a child-friendly, fantasy house for the WCCC” but this was placed on hold for three years.
However an Orange Street premises, in the CBD, had since been identified and was set to be ready in the coming months.
The Commissioner is not empowered in law to own property and needs to be accommodated in existing government infrastructure.
DTPW spokesperson, Jandre Bakker, said: “The Department of Infrastructure had identified a number of options and, in consultation with the Children’s Commissioner, has allocated premises situated (in) Orange Street, Cape Town, to accommodate the Children’s Commissioner.
The Department of Infrastructure is currently awaiting the user requirements of the Children’s Commissioner in order that it can attend to the required refurbishment of the premises with the view to accommodating the Children’s Commissioner.”
In her report, Nomdo said while the office of the WCCC was a work in progress, “institution-building is a big responsibility”.
Nomdo's report noted: “From the start of her term of office, the Commissioner envisioned a child-friendly, fantasy house for the WCCC. Three million rand was set aside in the first financial year for the accommodation of the Office of the WCCC. When the Commissioner pitched the idea to the Director-General (DG), he expedited links with the Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW) to find a suitable building.
“DTPW has agreed to invest in a property to bring it up to a good standard of maintenance. Therefore, the Commissioner will be able to use the monies set aside in the WCCC budget for child-friendly refurbishment. The main lesson learnt is that creating the ideal (non-traditional) permanent office for WCCC is challenging.”
Cape Times