A brief history of our community, Lwandle Township, Strand, Western Cape
Lwandle, (the Xhosa word for “sea”), was established by the Apartheid government in 1958 as a site for dormitories to house black male migrant workers. Rows and rows of identical hostel blocks were subdivided into units, each consisting of several small rooms. The families of these workers were not allowed to join them.
Lwandle housed separate communal kitchens, ablution blocks and washhouses. The only “recreational facility” was the so-called beer hall, an infamous feature of apartheid. Today our school is housed in what then used to be one of the communal kitchens and beer halls and forms a part of the Lwandle Migrant Museum. Lwandle is currently home to families from all over Africa who have come to seek a better life in the Western Cape.
History of Emyezweni Nomfaneleko Pre-school
In 1992 Nomfaneleko Day Care Centre was founded by Francois Heunis and some local ladies in Lwandle-township to provide a safe environment in which working mothers could leave their children for a small fee. Urban Voice Church renovated the above- mentioned kitchen and beer hall to become our pre-school, numbers then fluctuated between 25 to 30 children.
- 2001: The first Grade R class and our pre-school curriculum were established.
- 2002: A church team from the UK created a proper Gr R classroom, formally opened in April, and resourced by funding from Ukuthasa, a UK charity.
- 2003: Now called Emyezweni Nomfaneleko Care Centre (explanation above),
- 2008 to 2015: During these years, several primary grades were added to the school, reaching up to Gr 4. We were unsuccessful in registering as a primary school with authorities and phased primary school out by the end of 2015.
- 2016 to date: We are taking care of 2 Grade R, 1 Pre-Grade R, and 1 Toddler class. Capacity for these classes is 114 children, this year we care for 104 learners.
