The site for the South African community case study is Vrygrond. Vrygrond community is close to Muizenberg in the Cape Peninsula. This community was one of South Africa’s very first informal settlements and bears the legacy of many decades of inequality. According to Census 2011, the population is predominantly black African (62%) and Coloured (31%), and 61% of the population live in formal dwellings, the rest in shacks. It is estimated to have 42,000 people and approximately 5,000 children under the age of 6. In 2011, 24% of households did not have any individual earning an income.
The community can be described as marginalised, with a large number of foreign national residents. Violence, crime, substance abuse, malnutrition and poverty are prevalent. In terms of ECD provision, in 2014, 70% of 0-5 year-old children did not have access to an early learning programme and about 20% attended home based crèches and childminders. Only 10% of children attended a registered ECD centre. An ECD non-profit working in the area is supporting 32 ECD centres to improve their programmes and infrastructure and enable them to register and be eligible for a state per child subsidy.
