About

Where healing begins

Louis Botha Kinderhuis cares for children placed in our care by the Children’s Court and manage two premises in Pretoria; Jakaranda Kinderhuis in East Lynne and Louis Botha Kinderhuis’s Home in Queenswood. Our children are aged between 3 – 18 years, we have 9 homes at Louis Botha Children’s Home and 20 homes at Jakaranda Children’s Home . Each of these homes have a houseparent who takes care of between 10 – 12 children in her / his home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Mrs Helen de Waal, daughter of the then Prime Minister general Louis Botha, founded the Louis Botha Home for children in 1918, to provide housing and care to the children orphaned by the “Great Flu Epidemic”.

The Louis Botha Kinderhuis for children is an independent, unaffiliated welfare organisation, which cares for traumatised children removed by the children’s court from their parents’ care as a result of physical and emotional abuse or neglect. 

 We provide a caring home environment and therapeutic services to our children, with the extended aim of preparing them for their future. 

 Whether they are replaced with parents or family, placed in foster care, adopted, or whether they leave us as young adults to enter the occupational world, we aim to ensure that our children are armed with the necessary life skills. The Louis Botha Kinderhuis for children is a forerunner of childcare in South Africa. 

 We were one of the first homes to introduce the “Cottage System”, and we were also the first home in our area to integrate the various race groups. This has proven to be extremely successful, and is now used as a standard for similar institutions in this area. 

 We acknowledge that stability, growth and change are essential to success, and we remain flexible and open-minded to developments in the childcare field. Caring for traumatised children should not only be seen as treating a problem, but also as a step in preventing the cycle of abuse and neglect that we are experiencing in family life today. 

Who we are

The Louis Botha Kinderhuis for children is an independent, unaffiliated welfare organisation, which cares for traumatised children removed by the children’s court from their parents’ care as a result of physical and emotional abuse or neglect. The Louis Botha Kinderhuis provides holistic care, 24hours a day, 365 days a year.

Compliance

Louis Botha Kinderhuis has the following documentation available upon written request:

  • NPO Certificate
  • Audited Financial Statements
  • Child & Care Centre Certificate (Department of Social Development)
  • Tax Clearance Certificate / Good Standing
  • Bank Confirmation Letter

Interaction with our children

Planning to visit or planning an excursion for our children?

Here’s what you need to know beforehand…

Any type of interaction with the children must be registered and approved by our Social Workers Committee.  Our Social Workers Committee meets every Wednesday morning at 08h00.

Procedure to follow

STEP 1 – Please request application form and submit to elanze@jacarandachildren.co.za
STEP 2 – If your visit does not meet our goals or policy, it will unfortunately be declined immediately by our marketing department.
STEP 3 – Your application will be forwarded to our Social Workers Committee for approval.
STEP 4 – You will receive approval on the 1st Thursday after your application, if your request was on a Wednesday you will only receive feedback on the 2nd Thursday after your request was submitted.

Important to note
  • Your application is NOT an automatic approval. Please wait for official written approval before you go ahead with your planning of the visit or excursion.
  • We do not allow visits or excursions involving ALL our children at once.
  • We encourage visits “per house”.






Dad, husband, television presenter, voice artist, singer, wordsmith, musician, producer, wannabe poet and creative soul; cyberspace announces when you research Leon Gropp. In his own words he sums it up with; “I am a facilitator of personal growth, development and change management in a constantly changing world.”

Ontbytsake presenter, Leon Gropp and his wife, Martelize are the proud parents of three young children, two girls and a boy. This extremely talented, versatile and Award-winning artist has a number of music productions under his belt and surprise with ever new release! Furthermore, he produces corporate videos, composes jingles and best of all, he loves every single moment of tapping into his ingenuity and creativity, whether it is on stage, on camera and in studio.

Leon has been involved with the Kinderhuis for a number of years and he immediately accepted the invitation to step in as Patron for Jakaranda- & Louis Botha Kinderhuis for the next 2-years. Leon is a definite asset and Jakaranda- & Louis Botha Kinderhuis is proud to associate with him; we look forward to an exciting time with him as our Patron.

To become a Volunteer or Guest Parent you need to attend our compulsory information session, which is held quarterly.  During this session, you will receive all the information on how to become involved. 

To enquire about our next information session please contact: Mariette Van Aswegen – mariette@jacarandachildren.co.za

What do you need to know about being a volunteer?

-The goal of the volunteer programme is to utilise volunteers in expanding existing services, initiate new programmes and to provide general assistance according to the needs of the Children’s Homes.

Volunteers will be informed, screened and identified once a month at our volunteer information session to be part of one of the following categories (depending on the interests and expertise of the volunteer and the needs of the organisation):

  • Educational
  • Recreation
  • Spiritual
  • Medical
  • Therapeutic services
  • Life skills
  • School leavers
  • Maintenance
  • Support of staff members
  • Functions and special occasions
  • Administrative and expert assistance
Volunteering examples:

  • Help with homework & reading (All Ages)
  • Activities, sports, crafts, skill development
  • Sewing and mending clothes
  • Maintenance (garden, buildings, decor, etc\0
  • Fundraising Events (Admin, selling of tickets, social media promoting)
  • Admin