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How it all began

In 1992 Alta Nieuwoudt and her husband Isaack adopted a little girl. Stephanie had severe disabilities and despite this, they fully embraced and loved their daughter.

Alta and Isaack wanted to provide the best care possible for Stephanie but found that there wasn’t a day care centre for children with disabilities in the area. They soon realised that there were other families in the same situation, who didn’t have access to support or a place to care for their children.

Alta founded the Centre in May 1998 in a small room on the present property. The caring couple collected children from disadvantaged communities in their own car so they could attend the Centre.

By the end of 2009, the Bizweni Centre had moved into a beautiful new building with three classrooms, built out of the fundraising efforts of the local Helderberg Rotary Club.

In 2016, two additional classrooms were built to accommodate 12-18 year old children.

We are forever grateful to the Helderberg Rotary Club for catching the vision of the Centre and making the expansion possible.

Although our Centre has grown and expanded over the years, its core values have remained the same.

We provide a safe, loving environment, conducive to learning and development.

Every child with disabilities should have access to education to reach their full potential.

We are a team

It takes a special kind of person to work at our Centre…

The Bizweni educational and therapeutic staff is comprised of a dynamic, dedicated and caring team.

This includes teachers, therapists, class assistants, administrators, fundraiser, drivers and housekeeping staff, who work together to provide a welcoming and learning-rich environment for 67 children with special needs.

We take pride in what we do and the high level of care we provide.

Vicky Hinrichsen

Centre Manager

Dinks Rankin

Financial Manager

Debbie Bone

Fundraiser/Social Media Manager

Simone’ Coetzee

Administrator

Board of Governors

Chairman – Justus Swart

Vice Chairman – Lwazi Mankahla

Treasurer – Daniel De Villiers

Secretary – Dinks Rankin

Member – Stephan Mack

Member – Russell Julies

Chelsea v/d Berg

Speech Therapist

Juanne Paul

Occupational Therapist

Bridgette Mohr

Occupational Therapist

Tamryn Fourie

Occupational Therapist

Mienie Diedericks

Life Skills Coordinator

Sauney Coetzee

Therapy Support

Taylor Marais

Therapy Support

Charlotte Naidoo

Programme Implementer

Miriam Blom

ECD Practitioner

Yolisa Pekula

Senior Carer

Gaynore Bell

Class Senior

Shannon Allies

ECD Practioner

Sandra Morris

Class Assistant

Irene Mutswiri

Class Assistant

Zandiswa Ketani

Class Assistant

Maria Hoffman

Lifeskills Practitioner

Nosabelo Vumazonke

Class Assistant

Bianca van Wyk

Class Assistant

Amanda Sohuma

Class Assistant

Leeanne Nel

Class Assistant

Lorraine Manhenga

Class Assistant

Juanita Tembo

Class Assistant

Chene Robertson

Class Assistant

Zimkhitha Gedezana

Class Assistant

Charles Adriaanse

Driver

Gift Mpofu

Driver

Anthony Frazenburg

Driver

Nancy Mudtuda

Housekeeper