'I heard my baby's screams from the parking lot'
The mother of a nine-month-old baby, who suffered third-degree burns at an unregistered crèche in Pretoria, has spoken of her anguish.
Disebo Dhlamini says she received a call from the crèche to inform her that her baby, Naledi, had poured hot water on herself.
"I was called by the receptionist. I was shocked and I said to her I hope it's not on her face. She responded calmly and said 'No, it's not in the baby's face'."
Dhlamini says she was in total shock and had to ask a friend to accompany her to the school.
"I thought it's something small, so I told myself to calm down. When I parked at the crèche parking lot, I heard my child scream and started to shake. When we went into the room she was in, we saw her burnt stomach which had turned pink. We went outside because we couldn't believe what we were seeing."
Dhlamini says they will institute a civil and criminal case against the crèche.
WATCH #BurntToddler mother of baby Naledi describes the moment she found her baby burnt at the creche "she was pink" SM pic.twitter.com/IYPcFUo0xr
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) August 29, 2017
Gauteng MEC for Social Development Nandi Mayathula-Khoza says the child minder, who was on duty at the time of the incident, has been suspended.
"I am encouraged by the fact that the child minder is suspended. We also know that the facility is not registered but they applied in 2016. But it has not been approved because the crèche did not supply all documents," Mayathula-Khoza says.
Creche owner Wim van Rensburg spoke to Jacaranda FM News about the incident.