A CRECHE owner has accused eThekwini Municipality of taking away her only source of income.
Phumzile Zondo, founder of Smart Kids Creche in Ntuzuma G section, north of Durban, said municipal workers destroyed her garden on Wednesday.
“A municipal worker came to me last month and told me the City wanted to place containers in my garden to start a sewing business,” she said.
“He said since there was a garden there, he would have to ask the municipality to find another spot.
“I was waiting for him to tell me whether they had found another place.
“But when they came back they didn’t say anything but destroyed my garden.
“I tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen.
“My creche isn’t sponsored. I used the kids’ fees to run it, even though some parents didn’t pay.
“We didn’t have to buy fresh produce because we got it from the garden.
“When we didn’t have enough food, we sold some of the vegetables to residents.”
Phumzile said she wanted the municipality to find another spot to place the containers.
“This piece of land used to be a dumpsite,” she said.
“Now that I’ve cleaned it up, they want to take it away from me.”
Municipal spokeswoman Princess Nkabane asked for the creche’s address and promised to send officials.
The address was sent to her, but Phumzile said no one from the municipality had come to see her.
