We’ll find the perfect nanny for your family
Whether you are looking for a live-in or live-out nanny, Village Nannies will locate the right nanny for you!
We’re a Cape Town-based nanny, child minder and housekeeper placement agency with 20 years’ experience in placing candidates with families at an affordable price. Based on your needs, home and family, we’ll help you select the best-fit candidate to care for your children.
Why employ a nanny?
Hiring a nanny or child carer can benefit both parents and children. Nannies and child carers can care for and stimulate your children in the comfort and security of your home. Having a nanny can more than double your quality time with your children and partner, making the experience a pleasure.
Having a nanny at home is also convenient. You won’t have to drop off or fetch your children from daycare or school, especially on busy mornings. When you come home, you can find the household chores done and your children well-cared for and happy.
Nannies can arrange playdates or outings to give your child opportunities to develop their social skills. They can offer flexible schedules to accommodate your family’s unique needs. They can also offer care tailored to your child’s specific needs, follow your child’s routines and dietary requirements, and engage in activities that align with your family values.
NANNY OPTIONS
DOMESTIC NANNY
Childcare and cleaning
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The nanny’s focus will be on the child(ren), but she would also need to do cleaning and perhaps laundry, depending on how many children she is looking after and the size of the house.
Salary:
Depends on the nanny’s qualifications, experience, previous earnings and your budget.
CHILD CARER / MINDER
Childcare and light cleaning
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The child carer’s focus is mainly on the child(ren). She can also do some light domestic work, e.g., beds, dishes, laundry, as well as cleaning and taking care of everything to do with the child(ren). Some have a driver’s licence.
Salary:
Depends on the nanny’s qualifications, experience, previous earnings and your budget.
HOUSEKEEPER
Cleaning and some childcare if needed
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Responsibilities include:
Managing any other staff that work on the property
Managing repairmen, pool cleaners, etc.
Creating shopping lists
General domestic work and laundry
Cooking
Possibly looking after older children when they get home from school.
Salary:
Depends on the nanny’s qualifications, experience, previous earnings and your budget.
TEMPORARY / HOLIDAY NANNY
Temporary / holiday childcare or housekeeping for 1 day or more
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You may need this service if:
You are visiting Cape Town on holiday
Your nanny is going on maternity or extended sick leave
Your nanny is going away on her annual holiday
Salary:
Depends on the nanny’s qualifications, experience, previous earnings and your budget.
About our nannies
Our nannies come to us through many sources and are carefully screened before we consider placing them.
We interview them personally, check their references and verify their certificates from completed courses. We ensure they speak and understand English well. They also need at least one to two years of full-time experience with children under 2 years of age and/or working as a housekeeper. Their experience must have been gained with a family of a similar standard of living to yours.
While it is not an essential part of our screening process, we recommend that nannies are trained once placed. This will ensure they have at least valid First Aid certification. We can recommend some good training courses for your nanny.
Please note:
- this is NOT an application form and does not guarantee that Village Nannies will contact you.
- all information should be correct and accurate BEFORE you submit your response, as this form can only be completed once by each candidate.
- if any information is missing or incorrect, we will not be able to contact you for further information.
OUR NANNY PLACEMENT PROCESS
We are well positioned to advise you in the selection of a suitable candidate to care for your children. Here are our four easy steps to employ the perfect nanny:
- Register with us. Please feel free to view our terms and conditions.
- We call you to discuss your requirements and advise you on all aspects of employing a nanny. Then we arrange for you to interview 2-3 selected candidates in your home. If you are offering a live-in position, the first interview is conducted online. Thereafter you can conduct a face-to-face interview with your selected candidate.
- When you have chosen a candidate, we arrange for a trial period. In this way you can check that the candidate integrates well with your family. Once both you and the candidate are happy, you can make her an offer of employment, which Village Nannies facilitates. On acceptance of the offer, we send you your invoice, to be paid immediately.
- We then set up an online meeting to facilitate the signing of a contract between you and your new employee. We go through the contract with you and your nanny, and discuss her hours, leave and overtime rates. You can make changes to the contract that you feel are necessary.
We give you UIF forms and explain how to register as an employer. We suggest clothing options for the nanny and what food to provide for her breakfast and lunch. Finally, we discuss the benefits of starting a communication diary.
ONGOING SUPPORT
To help maintain a positive working relationship, we offer an ongoing mediation and support service to the employer and employee. You or your nanny are welcome to call us if there is anything you cannot solve yourselves.
If you or your nanny terminate the contract during the first three months for a reason that is allowed by law, as per our terms and conditions we will do our best to replace her once, free of charge.
FEES & BANK DETAILS
Permanent Placement Fee
This once-off fee for an indefinite period is:
10% of the nanny’s annual salary (salary x 12 ÷ 10 = placement fee)
Temporary Placement Fees
1 day – 3 weeks (1 – 15 working days): R100 per day
4 weeks – 3 months: 25% of the nanny’s total earnings while with you
4 – 8 months: 15% of the nanny’s total earnings while with you
9 months or more: 10% of the nanny’s total annual salary
Contract Fee
If you are not a client of Village Nannies, you can still use our contract services. Our fee for overseeing the signing of a contract between you and a nanny is:
R600
Mediation Fee
We can mediate between you and your nanny, provide an advisory service to help you terminate your nanny’s contract, or help you sign a new contract:
R600
OUR BANKING DETAILS:
Account name: Janice Roberts t/a Village Nannies
Bank: Standard Bank cheque account
Branch code: 051001
Acc. no.: 1020 7113 546
SWIFT: SBZA ZA JJ
Kindly email your proof of payment to: info@villagenannies.co.za
INTERVIEW TIPS
Here are a few tips for when you interview candidates.
To put the candidate at ease, take her on a tour of your house and garden. While you are walking around, you can have a relaxed chat. You can even let her hold the baby if she wants to.
Ask questions that are practical, rather than philosophical.
Ask to see her references. You may also contact her references, if you wish.
To see how she interacts with your child, ask her to stay with your child while you make tea or ‘do something’ in another room.
Follow your instincts – a pleasant personality is more important than lots of qualifications. You can always send a nanny on a course if you feel her skills need a brush up, but you cannot change unpleasant character traits. Nobody is perfect, but they must fit in with your family’s requirements.
Please remember to give each candidate R50 to cover their transport costs.
Suggested interview questions
Here are questions you could ask the candidates:
Previous Experience:
How old were the children you worked with at your last job?
Did you enjoy that job?
Where was it?
What were the hours?
Were you expected to do the housework as well as take care of the children?
Did you make food for the child? What did you make?
Personal Information:
How many children do you have?
What sort of support system do you have at home?
What sort of house do you live in?
Is your family nearby?
What do you like doing in your free time?
How is your health? Do you go to the clinic regularly for anything?
Do you have any allergies?
Do you like cats and dogs?
How will you get to work?
What will it cost?
Handling children (at work):
What would you do if a child you were looking after suddenly develops a fever or becomes ill, and mom is not at home? (The answer you want is that she would call you immediately).
What would you do if you are changing a baby’s nappy on the change table, and you have to fetch something from another room?
How would you handle a child who is having a tantrum?
When you arrive at work, what is the first thing you do? (Wash hands).
How would you go about potty training a child?
How would you make sure a home is safe when the child starts crawling and walking?
How would you put a small baby to sleep? And a toddler?
What activities would you do to keep a toddler busy and stimulated?
What kind of activities would you do indoors? And outdoors? (Give some examples to start off with, e.g. playdough, puzzles, reading etc).
What songs would you sing to a small child?
If a child doesn’t want to eat, what would you do?
If a toddler doesn’t want to get in the bath, what would you do?
What can you cook?
You should also inform the nanny of your views and ideas on the following:
Watching TV, both for your child and the nanny.
Putting baby on her back – are you happy with this
The baby’s routine.
The nanny’s routine. What you expect to be done during the day.
What she can have for breakfast and lunch. Ask what she likes.
Some things you should look out for when interviewing:
Does she wash her hands before holding your child?
Was she punctual, and did she phone if late?
Is she well-presented, neat and clean?
Does she show an interest in your children?
How does she interact with them?
Do you feel relaxed and comfortable talking to her?
Does she have good body language? Does she keep eye contact?
Is she friendly and communicative?
TESTIMONIALS
Here are some of our clients’ comments about Village Nannies.
NEWS
Village Nannies is thrilled to have won a 2023 African Excellence Award from MEA Markets, which recognises the very best of African Industry.
“The African Excellence Awards are an essential guide to the key sectors driving growth throughout the continent, rewarding those outstanding companies and individuals whose entrepreneurship has strengthened Africa’s position as the next global economic powerhouse.”
Sofi Parry, Senior Editor: MEA Markekts
ABOUT US
Village Nannies was founded in 2003 by Tania Schrire while she was operating a playschool in her home for children aged 18 months to 3 years. During this time, Tania gained valuable experience and an understanding of families’ nanny or au pair needs. She then applied a rigorous screening process to meticulously select candidates for the Village Nannies database. This ensured the nannies not only had baby care skills, but could nurture toddlers’ developmental milestones and align with clients’ parenting styles.
Over the past two decades, Village Nannies has earned a reputation for its integrity, excellent service, and the experienced and compassionate nannies in its database. The business thrives on word-of-mouth referrals and has many returning clients, proving itself as a well-respected child-care service provider in Cape Town.
In 2021, Tania passed the reins of Village Nannies to Janice Roberts, who has been the sole proprietor since 2023. Tania remains a personal friend to Janice, ensuring the business’ history, integrity, and high standards endure.
MEET JANICE
Janice is a dedicated professional, responsible for preserving the excellent standards and reputation of Village Nannies, upholding the Village Nannies’ track record in providing exceptional service and outstanding candidates for placement.
As an experienced human resources specialist, Janice has held various generalist HR roles, including recruitment, for more than 20 years. She has a BA(Hons) in Industrial Psychology, and Advanced Labour Law Program certification. Her exceptional knowledge of employment law ensures all Village Nannies placements meet legal requirements and are handled with integrity.
Janice is passionate about matching the right employees with the right employers for successful employment partnerships. In this process, Village Nannies understands the unique dynamics of every client’s family and their requirements.
Beyond her professional life, Janice is a wife, a mother of two sons and a businesswoman with a home-based office. As such, she knows the challenges families face and the value of having extra support.
Janice’s enthusiasm extends to the Village Nannies’ candidates: the nannies, housekeepers and au pairs. Her philosophy is:
“What we do is one of life’s real privileges. Servicing a client’s need for support and a candidate’s need for a job invariably brings peace of mind to everybody. Plus, our clients’ children make a new best friend! We understand the significance of what we do and take our work seriously. We aim to ‘get it right’ every single time”.