It is fitting to state that SARAECE launched a book that focuses on the early childhood sector in Mandela Month, as he was a man who cared both about education and its potential to uplift the poor, as well as specifically, the children of South Africa. On the 26th July 2022 I had the privilege to be present and to speak in my capacity as outgoing President at the South African Research Association for Early Childhood Education’s launch of their first open-source e-publication.  The event was held at the Cape Town Museum of Childhood and was hosted by the Centre for Early Childhood Development (CECD).  

This publication brings together a chorus of voices from the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) sector in South Africa.  It presents a glimpse into the work of ECCE researchers, teacher trainers, ECCE teachers, leaders and NGO implementers.  In bringing together the unusual bedfellows of research, policy and practice, this book makes a contribution to addressing the fragmentation and the polarisations that exist in the ECCE sector in South Africa. This publication was designed to serve a number of purposes: to provide a scaffolded approach to publication for authors who have struggled to get published or have been demotivated by the process; to be available to anyone irrespective of their position in the sector, hence an e-publication that was open source; to provide a variety of perspectives from the sector and to share some of the exciting presentations that had formed part of the 2021 online SARAECE conference. We hope that this volume will take readers on a journey about the people in the South African ECCE field who present possibilities, are passionate about their work even in the face of a pandemic and economic challenges, choosing rather to change the lives of young children in a way that respects not only who they will become in the future but who they are presently. 

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge a number of people without whom this publication would not have been possible:  Prof Eric Atmore for hosting the event; Prof Hasina Ebrahim our chief Editor; my fellow editors – Dr Naseema Shaik; Dr Colwyn Martin and Ms Michaela Ashley-Cooper who was additionally responsible for the formatting and graphics.  I would also like to thank SANTS Higher Education Institution for their hosting of SARAECE, administrative and financial management and for supporting my Presidency. Lastly I would like to thank the contributors who took the time to make their voices heard and provided a chorus of chapters that give insight into the complexities of Early Childhood Care and Education.