A woman who was caught on video camera allegedly assaulting
children at a nursery is expected to plead when she appears at the Oberholzer
Regional Court in Carletonville next month.
 
40-year-old Nellie Senwametsi was arrested in March
last year, following several videos showing what appears to be the same
employee abusing children at a creche went viral on various sites.
 
In one video, a young girl is forced to clean up after
she vomited. The child is slapped on her buttocks. Senwametsi was arrested
together with the owner of Ninnie’s Neuron’s Nursery, and the case was moved to
the regional court in accordance with Section 175 of the Children’s Act.
 
On Tuesday during her appearance, community members
and gender-based activists dressed up in T-shirts written “No excuse for child
abuse” came in numbers to support the parents of the children who were victims
of Senwametsi’s actions.
 
The defense has agreed with the state that the trial
will resume on the next court date and the prosecution has also requested a
statement of the person who recorded the video. A former care giver at the
nursery who asked to remain anonymous said she had completed her counselling
process and ready to stand as a witness. Parents of children from former Ninnie's
Neuron's Nursery are unhappy with the delay in the resumption of the case.
 
The Gauteng Department of Social Development shut down
the centre immediately after these videos surfaced on social media sites, and
because it was also discovered the nursery was operating illegally.