Over R1.4 Million — The Real Financial Impact SAVE Has Made in Cape Town Schools
Audited figures. Real classrooms. Real children. Here's exactly where the money has gone.
Numbers on a page mean nothing unless you know what they paid for. Over the past four financial years, SAVE Foundation has directed more than R1.4 million directly into the informal ECD centres and schools of Dunoon and the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town, every rand verified through audited financials.
This is not fundraising copy.
This is an accountability record — the kind that every donor, volunteer, and government partner deserves to see.
The Numbers, Year by Year
Total over four years: R1 420 883.00
Audited, verified, and spent entirely in the communities we serve.
What That Money Pays For
- Daily and weekly meals — hot food for children who often arrive having eaten nothing at home
- Stationery, learning materials, and basic classroom supplies replenished each term
- Teacher salary support — supplementing government subsidy shortfalls at unregistered centres
- Teacher training and professional development in ECD methodology
- General centre maintenance — repairs, cleaning materials, basic infrastructure
- Emergency assistance — replacing materials and furniture after the Harare Kidz fire in January 2026
Why the Numbers Have Shifted
A decrease in donations between 2023 and 2026 reflects the post-COVID tightening of international volunteer numbers, not a reduction in need.
The Dunoon community, where most of SAVE's schools operate, recorded 37% unemployment and 77% of households surviving on less than R3 200 per month as far back as the 2011 census. That figure has not improved.
The government subsidy for an unregistered ECD centre in South Africa is approximately R17 per child per day. SAVE fills the gap that government cannot.
”The Schools This Money Supports
SAVE currently supports five ECD centres in Dunoon and the surrounding Northern Suburbs — Sunshine Educare, Footsteps Educare, Nyakallo Kidz Academy, Harare Kidz, and Pitter Patter ECD. Together these centres provide early childhood education and daily care to several hundred children between the ages of six months and six years.
Why This Matters for the Long Term
Research published by the South African Medical Research Council confirms that children who access quality early learning programmes are measurably ahead of their peers by the time they enter Grade 1.
The 2021 Thrive by Five Index found that more than half of 4–5-year-olds in early learning programmes were not developmentally on track for their age.
Every rand SAVE spends in these schools is an investment not just in a child's today, but in South Africa's tomorrow.
