By Buziwe Nocuze
- A Marikana pre-school owner closed her centre after three extortion groups demanded up to R4,000 a month.
- Parents now pay extra transport costs to send children elsewhere, forcing some families to cut back on food.
Extortion gangs are forcing pre-schools to close in Philippi East, leaving children without care and parents under more financial pressure.
A pre-school owner in Marikana informal settlement said she shut her centre in February after three different groups demanded money from her every month.
She asked not to be named because she fears the extortionists will come after her.
The owner said she opened the pre-school in 2019 to help working parents in the area.
But what started as a small business became a nightmare.
She said she was forced to pay about R4,000 every month to extortion gangs.
One group wanted R1,500, another demanded R2,000 and a third wanted R1,000.
“We saw shop owners being extorted, but we never thought it would happen to us,” she said.
She said she used all her savings to keep the pre-school open and protect herself.
But the demands kept growing.
The final blow came when the extortionists told her to borrow money from loan sharks so she could keep paying them.
“I asked how I would pay the loan sharks because they were taking all the money,” she said.
“They told me not to make my problems their problem.”
That was when she decided to close.
She said the gangs told her it was better to shut down than be killed.
The closure has left her broke and unemployed.
“I am now surviving by doing piece jobs like washing clothes. I am a good cook, but I cannot even start a food business because they are also collecting money from people who sell food,” she said.
Parents are also paying the price.
Nolulamo Ngcubhe, a mother of three who works as a domestic worker, said she now has to send her child to a pre-school further away.
She pays R400 for transport and R600 for fees every month.
“I cannot leave my child at home alone because I come back late from work. Pre-schools help us,” she said.
Ngcubhe said the extra costs have forced her to cut back on groceries.
“Our government needs to do something about this,” she said.
Residents say extortion has become a daily terror in Philippi East.
Small businesses, food sellers, shop owners and now pre-schools are being squeezed until they collapse.
For many families, the shutdown of pre-schools means children lose a safe place to learn, while parents lose the support they need to work.
Pictured above: Closed pre-schools in Marikana informal settlement.
Image source: Supplied
