In 2005 the Thabang Juvenile Centre/ Place of Safety (later: Child &Youth Care Centre) was opened on the road outside Thabazimbi, in the Klipgat area. This land was donated by the White family. This Centre catered for boys who are ‘in need of care and protection’ in terms of the Children’s Act, Section 38 of 2005.
In 2006 the Thabang Children’s Place of Safety for girls started on the farm Roodedam, which was donated by Egon Mauss.
In 2007 the provincial government of Limpopo officially registered Thabang’s two Places of Safety and named them “Child and Youth Care Centres” run by Thabang Children’s Home Trust.
In 2010, A Drop- in Centre was opened at the Community Care Centre in Smasher Block. Here, the orphaned and vulnerable children from the informal settlement can receive daily after- school support, before returning to their guardians within the settlement. This Centre is about 35km away from the Thabang Child & Youth Care Centre.
In 2016, after receiving funding from a generous donor who built the girls’ Home/Centre on the site of the boy’s Centre, the two Child & Youth Care Centres amalgamated onto one site- on the R511 road outside of Thabazimbi.
Having both centres on one site allows for better management and cost savings.
The Thabang Child and Youth care Centre and Drop-in Centre are operating strongly as well-known entities within Limpopo. Through various kind donors, the sites have developed into model centres. Not only is the infrastructure good, but the operational team manages exemplary centres.
We have 2 main sites from which we operate these include our Child and Youth Care Centre 17 kilometres outside of Thabazimbi and our Drop-in-Centre at Smasher Block, Chromite
The first Place of Safety houses were built or reconstructed in 2005. Then the first children were taken in and the first employees were hired by THABANG Children’s Home Trust. Today, the project, managed by Linda Grobler, is a well-established and well-known institution in Limpopo. The Place of Safety houses were registered by the Department of Social Development in 2007 and since then, are known as Child & Youth Care Centres. The girls’ and boys’ centres merged onto one site in 2016 and now house 32 children altogether in the Klipgat area, which falls under the Thabazimbi municipality.
In 2015 The Thabang Children’s Home Trust initiated an NPC, Non-Profit Company called Thabang Children’s Project. The Trust is the safeguarding entity for the NPC, which is the operating entity for all the Thabang activities.
Thabang Children’s Home Trust also operated a care centre in the “Smasher Block” informal settlement. Most homes are made of corrugated iron. More than 20,000 people live there, and poverty, unemployment and HIV are widespread.
In 2004, the work here was under the name of the Thabang Community Care Centre, a sub-entity of the Trust. This community centre operated an HIV/Aids programme to support the people who needed medical attention and care. This enabled many parents or guardians to become stronger and healthier and hold onto life itself. Remaining alive and becoming stronger, allowed them to care for their children. There are many stories of how clients through the support of Thabang, managed to ‘regain’ their lives and then be available for their dependent children.
When the local clinic started to issue Antiretroviral Treatment to the many suffering from HIV/Aids, then Thabang focused directly on the vulnerable children of the area.
THABANG currently supports 50 children in the Thabang Drop-In-Centre, an afternoon care service for schoolchildren within Smasher Block. This centre also supports extra families, who are very needy although their children do not attend the Drop-in centre. The support is usually food parcels or other necessities as required.
The Thabang Children’s Home Trust was founded in August 2004 with the financial support of the German businessman Egon Mauss. Egon connected with Viveka Ansorge, Martin Schulte Frohlinde from Germany, Cecil and Tessa White from the Thabazimbi area. This group began with the planning and pioneering work under the wing of the Trust. Right from the beginning they constantly connected with the local community.
The first phase was surveying the needs of the people in the informal settlement of Smasher Block. This settlement was made of over 20 000 people living under very poor circumstances close to Amandelbult Platinum Mine where migrant workers seeked for work far from their homes. Thanks to the initiative of the Thabang Children’s Home Trust, a local day clinic was established in June 2005 close to the Thabang Community Care Centre. A community garden, home based care and a weekly support group was established as well as regular soccer training for local kids.
The Thabang Children’s Home Trust was founded in 2004 with the generous support of German business man Egon Mauss.
The Trustees are:
Bank Details
Thabang Children’s Home Trust
ABSA Bank
Account No: 4060 811 380
Swift: ABSA ZAJJ
Branch code: 632005
Tax Reference No: 0106629157
PBO Exemption Ref No: 930015199
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