• The 2025 Johannesburg Care Reform Summit decided to end institutional care for children by 2030 without consulting affected Gauteng centres.

• DA's Refiloe Nt'sekhe warns many children may be displaced because foster care systems and safety shelters are already severely strained.

Gauteng plans to close Child and Youth Care Centres that currently house vulnerable children removed from unsafe homes.

The decision was made at the 2025 Johannesburg Care Reform Summit. The reforms aim to end institutional care for children by 2030.

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The changes include an immediate ban on placing children under three in centres. Most centres will then close.

The Democratic Alliance says the decisions were made without proper consultation with centres that deal with abandonment, abuse and neglect daily.

DA Gauteng shadow MEC for social development Refiloe Nt'sekhe says the reforms could harm children if rushed.

"Children cannot be used as guinea pigs for poorly planned reforms in a province where the government has repeatedly failed in its social welfare efforts," Nt'sekhe said.

She said centres play a critical role during emergency removals when children cannot safely stay with family.

The DA warns foster care systems, safety shelters and family alternatives are already strained. Limited state resources and long backlogs mean many children may be displaced.

According to the summit outcomes document, poverty and disability remain major reasons children are removed from families. Reunification rates are low.

In KwaZulu-Natal, only 10% of children in centres returned to their families. In the Western Cape, foster care numbers rose from 36,000 to 42,000 between 2021 and 2024.

Nt'sekhe said any reform must put children first.

"Any childcare system reform must prioritise capacity, consultation and the best interests of the child," she said.

The DA will question Gauteng social development MEC Faith Mazibuko on whether the reforms will be implemented and what safeguards exist to prevent children being left without care.