Where It Started
Ruan spent more than 30 years in the South African Police Service, retiring as a Unit Commander in the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit. He saw first-hand what happens to children when there is no safe place for them. So he and Audrey made one.
Malachi is a home, not an institution. Children are cared for by house mothers, sit down to family meals, go to school and play in the garden. The goal is simple: help each child trust adults again and believe in their own future.
Ruan Brummer, house father and co-founder, on why he and Audrey opened their home.
Two Homes, Two Kinds of Care
The Safe House
Social workers place children with us while their case is investigated. They stay anything from a weekend to a few months. In 2024 we cared for 13 children this way. Bella, our house mother, runs the second house.
Foster Care
Five children live with us permanently, growing up with the same family, school and routines. Audrey and Ruan are their house mother and father.
The People Who Care for Them
Audrey and Ruan are joined by our house mothers, who look after the children day and night. A volunteer board led by chairperson Blake Dyason, doctors who see the children free of charge, a counsellor and a small team of volunteers keep everything running.
- Audrey Brummer, founder and house mother
- Ruan Brummer, co-founder and house father
- Bella, house mother of the safe house
Our Little Miracle
Audrey tells the story of one of the youngest children in our care, and how donors made extra support possible.
How Malachi Is Funded
For most of its 20 years, Malachi ran on the Brummer family’s own income. Since Ruan retired in 2021, much of it has come from his pension, and that can’t last.
R49,000
Monthly running costs for both homes, about R1,600 a day.
R33
Government safety grant per child, per day. The foster child grant is R1,290 a month.
2 years+
How long some grants have gone unpaid. Donors cover the rest.
In the 2024 financial year our biggest running costs were groceries (about R14,000 a month), rent on the safe house, caregivers’ salaries and maintenance. Read our annual report.
The People Who Stand With Us
Leppard helped us replace our unreliable Kombi and covers the rent on the safe house. Doctors, teachers, sports clubs and hundreds of individual donors fill the rest. Thank you.
Help Us Into Our Next 20 Years
A monthly gift, even R100, gives Malachi the steady income it needs to plan ahead.