Sparrow Village responds to allegations
Village says action has been taken.
The board of Sparrow Rainbow Village has broken their silence after recent damning allegations of abuse surfaced in the media.
Nicholas Nkosi on behalf of the board says the management have been liasing with the Department of Social Development (DSD) on an ongoing basis around some of the issues, including the sexual abuse claims, which he says took place years ago. He says incidents were reported to both the department and the police, and that none of incidents involved adults. The village also got the Teddy Bear Clinic involved in dealing with these allegations and older boys were separated from the younger ones as per the DSD’s instructions.
Nkosi says the children are not being moved because of sexual abuse but because of lapsed court orders.
“We are not aware of any recent cases of sexual abuse, but certainly will investigate any such claims. We can assure the public that where such cases are uncovered, the correct processes of reporting it to the relevant authorities will be followed,” says Nkosi.
He says there has been only one case of a social worker being turned away. “We were having a board meeting and the social worker was asked to wait. We called her when we were ready but she already had left. It must be mentioned that this took place in the evening and the social worker certainly was not there to see the children,” he says.
Nkosi admits to incidents of teenage pregnancies, but they in no way condone it. The village is working on placing the young mothers in suitable homes.
Some of the actions the board has taken after the allegations surfaced include an audit by the DSD. “We are working with the department to improve some of the issues such as preparing the documents to re-register Sparrow, reviewing the disciplinary policy for the children, reviewing our occupational health and safety compliance and reuniting children with their families,” says Nkosi.
The board also took steps to appoint an independent executive member to look at all the key issues raised by the staff and the department. The executive and the rest of management have been given three months to rectify all the known issues and to uncover any other incidents they might not have been aware of.
“Given how complex Sparrow has become, going from a hospice to a children’s home, the board and Reverend Corine McClintock took a decision that it is best for her not to be involved in the day to day management of Sparrows. She will continue to be part of the board,” says Nkosi.
“We are of the view that there is room for Sparrows to continue making a difference,” concludes Nkosi.
