Someone who watches properly
Aftercare in a house in Kanonkop, Durbanville. Half past twelve to half past five, weekdays. Phone Marika on 082 447 9013.
What it costsWarm, not watched
They get read to, fed, sent to wash their hands and told to put their shoes on. It is somebody's house, not a facility with a register at the door.
Aftercare until half five
We fetch at half twelve and you collect any time before 17:30. Nobody is charged for being ten minutes late in Durbanville traffic.
Police-cleared, first-aid current
All four of us hold a valid police clearance and Level 3 paediatric first aid, redone every two years. The certificates are on the wall in the passage.
Never more than four children
Four in the house at a time. When the fourth place goes the list closes until somebody leaves, and we would rather turn you away than take a fifth.
Fischer Street, Kanonkop
We are in a face-brick house on Fischer Street with a big back yard, and we fetch from Gene Louw Primary, Durbanville Primary and Kenridge Primary. Children come to us from Kanonkop, Sonstraal Heights, Eversdal and Vygeboom — roughly anything inside eight kilometres, we can make the school run work.
A day runs the same way every day, which is the point. Lunch at one, homework at the dining-room table until half past two, then outside until somebody is fetched. Four is not a marketing number: it is how many children one adult can actually watch on a trampoline, in a bath and across a road at the same time.
Who is in the house
Taught Grade R at Fontein Primary for eleven years before this. Does the school run and sits at the homework table.
Six years with us, Level 3 paediatric first aid, and the only person alive who can get a four-year-old to eat butternut.
Takes the under-threes in the mornings and runs the whole holiday programme in June, September and December.
Third-year education student at CPUT. Reads to them in isiZulu on Thursdays, which two of them have started answering in.
What two parents said
Our boy was in a centre with thirty-one other children and came home flat every single day. Six weeks here and he talks the entire way home about what they built in the yard.
Marika phoned me at work at two o'clock to say he had a temperature. Not a message at five when I arrived. That is the whole difference, really.
What it costs
2026 prices, all in. No registration fee, no annual levy, and nothing to pay for the days a child is off sick — the place is held.
Occasional
- Book the day before if you can
- Minimum two hours
- Lunch included
- Same four-child limit applies
Afternoons
- School fetch from half twelve
- Lunch and an afternoon snack
- Homework table until 14:30
- Collect any time before 17:30
Full day
- 07:00 to 17:30, weekdays
- For under-sixes not yet at school
- Every meal except breakfast
- Nap after lunch, in a cot or on a mattress
- Only two of the four places are full-day
School holidays
- June, September and December
- Half seven to five, no half days
- An outing every Wednesday
Before you phone
How much notice do you need?
A calendar month either way, in writing — a WhatsApp is fine. Tell us by 31 May and there is nothing to pay for June. We give you the same month back if we ever have to end a place, which has happened twice in twelve years and both times we found the family somewhere else first.
What happens if a child is ill?
A fever over 38, vomiting, chickenpox or hand-foot-and-mouth means the child stays home until 24 hours after the last symptom. If it starts here we phone you — an actual call, not a message — and one of us sits with the child in the front room until somebody arrives. You are not charged for sick days and the place stays yours.
Do you fetch from school?
Yes, from Gene Louw, Durbanville Primary and Kenridge, in an Avanza with four booster seats and a valid PrDP. Anywhere else inside about eight kilometres we will do for R350 a month extra, fuel included. We do not run lift clubs to afternoon sport — that is a different job and we would do it badly.
How does payment work?
Monthly fees are due by the third, by EFT to the Skoppelmaai account. No cash in the house, ever. Occasional hours are invoiced on the Friday of the week you used them. We are not registered for VAT, so the number on this page is the number you pay.
Come and look at the house
Marika · 082 447 9013 · 021 976 4188 on weekdays