By Buziwe Nocuze
- Thembisa Skaap runs Ikhaya Elitsha Autism Centre in Khayelitsha, charging R2,100 a month, half what she paid for her grandson.
- The centre is registered with the City but gets no funding, and survives only on the fees Skaap charges parents.
Thembisa Skaap runs a full autism centre in Khayelitsha on nothing but school fees. No government money comes in. She built it after she could not find a place for her own grandson.
Skaap searched across the Western Cape for care for her autistic grandson. She found nothing there. She eventually found a centre in the Eastern Cape, and paid R4,000 a month for it.
She decided other families should not have to go through the same search. In May 2025 she opened Ikhaya Elitsha Autism Centre in Khayelitsha. She set the fees at R2,100 a month, less than half what she had paid before.
“I watched parents struggle like me. The journey of looking for a place is draining, so I decided to start an autism centre to save them time,” said Skaap.
The centre takes children aged three to twelve, from 07:00 to 17:00 each day. Some parents who use it had lost jobs or income because they had nowhere else to leave their children.
Skaap said some parents arrived not knowing how to care for a child with autism. “At first, some parents would bring their kids without bathing them. They don’t take them to the doctor, and they are not consistent in giving them medication,” she said.
She now also works to change how parents see their children. “They must stop calling them dumb or disabled, they must understand they have special kids,” she said.
Philani Xangayi’s six year old son attends the centre. He could not speak before he started. “Ever since he started at Ikhaya, he can now say a few words, and I am so happy,” Xangayi said.
Ward 94 councillor Xoliswa Peter said registered organisations can apply for the City’s grant in aid, and people needing help can go to the Khayelitsha Training Centre during office hours.
Ikhaya Elitsha is registered. It has not received that funding.
Pictured above: Thembisa Skaap opened an autism centre in Khayelitsha to help parents who have autistic children.
Image source: Supplied
