Khayelitsha, Cape Town — May 2026 - 
Sikhula Sonke Early Childhood Development will celebrate World Play Day 2026 by hosting Khayelitsha’s largest picnic for preschool children from early learning centres located across the informal settlements of the community.

The annual event will take place on the last Friday of May at OR Tambo Hall on Mew Way in Site B, bringing together hundreds of young children, teachers, caregivers, and community members for a day dedicated to play, learning, safety, and joy.

The picnic has become a cherished tradition in Khayelitsha since it was first launched by Sikhula Sonke in 2014 as part of Child Protection Week. The inaugural event welcomed 500 children together with their teachers and caregivers, creating a safe and nurturing environment where children could play freely while raising awareness about the importance of protecting children’s rights and wellbeing.

Now in its twelfth year, the annual picnic continues to grow as a symbol of community care and investment in early childhood development.

World Play Day highlights the importance of play in children’s emotional, social, physical, and cognitive development. For many children living in under-resourced communities, opportunities for safe and structured play remain limited. Through this initiative, Sikhula Sonke aims to create meaningful experiences that support healthy childhood development while strengthening partnerships between families, educators, and the broader community.
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“Every child deserves the right to feel safe, valued, protected, and free to play,” said Mdebuka Mthwazi, Executive Director of Sikhula Sonke Early Childhood Development. “The 2026 Child Protection focus reminds us that protecting children is not only about responding to harm, but about building communities where children can thrive with dignity, care, and opportunity. Through this picnic, we celebrate childhood while also calling on society to work together to create safer environments for every child in Khayelitsha.”

The event will include games, educational activities, entertainment, music, healthy meals, and opportunities for caregivers and educators to engage around child protection and early learning issues.

Sikhula Sonke invites community stakeholders, local organisations, donors, volunteers, and members of the media to join in celebrating the children of Khayelitsha and advancing the importance of play and child protection in early childhood development.

Media Enquiries
Sikhula Sonke Early Childhood Development
Khayelitsha, Cape Town
Winkie Cebisa
0737246830
winkie@sikhulasonke.org.za

About Sikhula Sonke Early Childhood Development
Sikhula Sonke Early Childhood Development works to support early childhood development and strengthen early learning centres in Khayelitsha, particularly within informal settlements, through community-based programmes, training, advocacy, and child-centred initiatives that promote the wellbeing, safety, and development of young children.
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www.sikhulasonke.org.za

The recent Cape storms hit some of our ECDs hard, with roofs blowing off and doors destroyed by the wet weather. Many roads in Khayelitsha's formal and informal areas are flooded. Nevertheless, our staff and the communities are resilient and as soon as the rain ceased, repairs are underway. 
We would like to salute the many ECD teachers who make every effort with often very limited resources. Thank you for your commitment to education, to the children and to the communities. 
#sisochampions #sisoreachingfamilyandcommunity

The year started with strategic planning in Strandfontein with the whole SISO team. This focused on SISO’s vision, discussing the organization’s different structures and planning the  tasks required to reach the different goals set out for each structure.

Social work deals with three levels (micro, mezzo and macro) and we solve problems that each level faces using a holistic approach. This quarter the social work team supported 203 clients through case management, home visits, parenting workshops and referrals. Some of the major challenges we faced include clients struggling with substance abuse, putting children at risk of neglect; the postponement of our planned GBV support group due to a temporary lack of our partner’s facilitators; and lack of documentation for children. The cases we dealt with involved 50% on the issue of parents failing to obtain birth certificates and Child Support Grants for their children. We have been able to resolve 20% of those cases.

This quarter has contributed a lot to the team in terms of professional and personal growth as we interact with different challenges and achievements that our clients face on a daily basis. 
March is Social Work Month, and we honoured our practitioners who advocate daily for dignity, human rights and social justice across communities. 
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In conclusion, the first quarter was filled with learning experiences and we are looking forward at the interventions implemented to ensure that the wellbeing of children is taken care of and the family as a whole. We are determined to keep working on social change by implementing efforts that aim at eradicating unemployment, poverty, discrimination and social injustice. Thank you to our clients for their trust, and to our partners and volunteers who make this work possible.

TEAM LEADERS FIRST QUARTERLY INSERT 2026
We have reached the end of the first quarter of the year and have managed to achieve most of the planned activities according to the annual work plan. As team leaders, we have taken responsibility for guiding and supporting the team in different aspects of their work. These experiences have strengthened our ability to take initiative and responsibility and have also helped us expand our capacity by supervising the team with greater confidence. Here are some of the highlights and challenges that we have encountered during the quarter.

• Reconnection was made with 150 families and 146 families were recruited for Playgroup. 
• A total of 290 families and 296 children are participating in the playgroup programme.
• Reconnection was made with 85 families and  111 families were recruited for FCM, with a total of 194 families and 196 children are participating in FCM programme. 
• 151 children were enrolled in different primary schools.
• 21 children crossed over from the Family and Community Motivator programme to the Playgroup programme.
• 5 pregnant women are currently enrolled and actively participate in the First 1000 Days programme.
• We received boxes of soap as a donation from For Afrika. This contribution will support hygiene practices at the sites and help promote the health and well-being of the children.
• 75 children participated in a baseline external assessment, conducted by two internal and two external assessors, to determine developmental progress.
• Health workers provided vitamin A supplement, deworming treatment and related health services to 169 children.
• A caregiver from Khunkqu section donated ceiling boards to help keep the classroom warm
• 253 caregivers attended the cluster workshop focused on their well-being, with the topic “River of life”.
•  240 children participated in an educational outing to Giraffe House, where they explored and learned about different wild animals.
• The jungle gym slide at Nkanini has been repaired.
  
• Armsco donated laminate flooring, a three-burner gas stove, 18 tables and 74 chairs to support learning and daily activities of children and office at Sikhula Sonke
• Vathiswa Combi was promoted to the position of Team Leader for Health and Maintenance during the strategic planning process

• A total of 32 ECD practitioners and 7 Sikhula Sonke field workers attended the basic training

 
Challenges

• In some areas, rats are damaging children’s food, posing a serious health risk.
• At Taiwan, access to water is a serious concern, as it is not easily available during the day.
• The classroom at Social Distance feels unsafe due to a weak door.
• In some areas, the targeted number of children for both playgroup and FCM sessions was not reached.
• Growing Together program is not functioning effectively, as caregivers are not attending the sessions.
• The drain at UT Gardens is blocked, which may lead to water stagnation, unpleasant odours and potential health risks for the children.
• There is an ongoing issue with community members urinating in the classroom. The padlock for the toilet at UT Gardens is broken, which poses a safety and security concern.
• A security gate at UT Gardens has been stolen.
• Office toilet seats are damaged and need to be replaced.

• The A-Section space they using is unsuitable for our children.
• The Mew Way site experienced a mosquito infestation problem, which may affect both the children and staff.
• The shortage of practitioners in ECD centres is a major challenge, leading to a lack of consistent daily routine.
• The shortage of learning resources in some ECD centres, such as toys, limits children’s opportunities for play and development.

 
In closing, the first quarter was packed with lots of activities and we are very much encouraged by the progress made so far. We appreciate the continued commitment and collaboration from everyone involved and looking forward to building on this momentum in the coming quarter.

Our partnership with Wynberg Girls High School started five years ago, with learners from the High School supporting our Emthonjeni outreach programme learners with sandwiches each term. This project has grown to include gifts for some of our support groups, teacher resources like posters and food parcels at Christmas time to assist struggling families to feed their children when schools have closed. 
Once again we would like to thank Wynberg Girls High School's Service Pillar for gathering food parcels which were handed out to 48 Emthonjeni families and 10 of the Emthonjeni volunteers who assist us to run our preschool programmes using the informal spaces in the newer informal settlements in Khayelitsha.
Thank you Wynberg Girls! #honourbeforehonours #sisochampions

Emthonjeni reaches out to families who live in informal housing, many of whom do not have employment and who cannot afford to send their children to preschool. Our programmes use public spaces close to water points or bathrooms, engaging parents to assist with health, nutrition, parenting skills while teaching children the basics of literacy and numeracy in preparation for primary school.   

A quick review of Q4
This quarter, we saw practitioners working hard across many learning sites to prepare children for Grade R in 2026. The same was true in our playgroups, where teams worked together to give young children the support they needed this year and for the year ahead.
It’s encouraging to see so many campaigns focused on vulnerable children. The Department of Health continued its work on immunisations, screenings, and other health needs. Food partners like For Afrika and Wynberg Girls’ High School ensured that children outside ECD centres received nutritious meals.
Our programme partners—Kids Collab, FAMSA, Connect Network, WordWorks, Growing Together, and various government departments—also played a key role in giving children a strong foundation. 
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Some special highlights

• In SD settlement, a mobile toy library has grown into a proper community space where young children can play and learn.
• Children from nearby informal settlements enjoyed an educational beach trip to Muizenberg, which was full of fun and excitement.
• 150 children graduated from our Emthonjeni Outreach Class of 2025.
• One special milestone was a father who successfully raised his child alone from the age of two.
• Our ECD practitioners graduated from the one-year Basic ECD Training course

What happened in the ECD ecosystem?
This snapshot from the Thrive By Five Results / Early Learning Outcomes (ELOM 4&5 Total Score, reflecting children’s performance across the five domains) reveals that only 42% of children enrolled in early learning programmes in South Africa are developmentally on track for their age. Less than half of enrolled children have acquired the foundational skills needed to support a successful start to formal schooling. ​

There is much to do!
Sikhula Sonke's mission is even more vital than ever before as we work to prepare the next generation to enter schooling.
​As we enter our annual rest and holidays, the Sikhula Sonke Team would like to take this opportunity to wish you a safe, and healthy festive season full of love, peace and God’s presence.

46 caregivers attended the Parent Play Box workshop held on 27 November, which also helped us evaluate the programme. We salute these parents who showed their commitment to implementing new skills in daily parenting practices.
#sisochampions #sisoreachingfamilyandcommunity

Congratulations to our Basic ECD Training students on their graduation. This is a one year course, with training once a week on Fridays. The course is very hands-on and practical and equips practitioners in setting up classrooms, running lessons, making their own resources and more. 
#sisochampions #sisoplayislearning

170 children graduated to Grade R from the Outreach programmes and ECD centres this year, with a lovely event held to celebrate our young learners. We wish them well for the start of Grade R in 2026, and their formal schooling.
#sisoplayislearning #sisoreaching familyandcommunity