Photo courtesy of Thys Dullaart |
Submitted by the National Programme of Action for
Children Steering Committee through the Office on the Rights of the Child
in the Presidency
On behalf
of the Republic of South Africa
|
Introduction and Background
·
who
headed your delegation at the World Summit for Children in 1990? ·
What
immediate follow-up actions were taken? Was an NPA prepared – if so when
and how? ·
What
mechanisms were established for periodic reviews of progress? ·
Was there
a mid-decade review – if so, what were its principal finds and how were
they used?
With the end of apartheid, South Africa became a
democracy in 1994. When the World Summit for Children took place in 1990,
South Africa was deep within the throes of the liberation movement; in
fact that year, over 200 NGOs, along with UNICEF, met in Botswana as a
response to the worsening conditions for women and children in South
Africa. From the Botswana conference, came the National Children’s Rights
Committee, an umbrella organisation advocating for the rights of children.
After the first democratic elections, on June 16th, 1994,
former President Nelson Mandela committed the country to the NPA
framework. And one year later, in 1995, South Africa ratified the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 1997, South Africa submitted the
initial country report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Three years later, a supplementary report was submitted, and in January
2000, the country delegation made an oral presentation to the UN Committee
and dialogued around issues of children’s rights in South Africa. South
Africa has also ratified the OAU African Charter on the Rights and
Responsibilities of the Child.
·
Have
reports been submitted under Article 44 of the CRC? If so, which issues
were highlighted in the report and /or by the Committee on the Rights of
the Child? When concluding observations have been issued by the Committee,
please summarise.
The UN Committee during the 23rd Session
welcomed the submission from South Africa. The Committee made a number of
recommendations, and also noted a number positive developments. These
included the new Constitution, in particular Article 28, new legislation
(such as the National Youth Amendment Act and the Abolition of Corporal
Punishment Act) that have been enacted, and the implementation of the NPA.
The Committee acknowledged the challenges faced by the SA government in light of the legacy of apartheid, and encouraged South Africa to continue to work for full implementation of the CRC. Specific recommendations were made for each issue area. Recommendations included: expanding child support grant programmes to include children up to the age of 18 years, raise awareness on the negative effects of corporal punishment, increase access to safe drinking water, increase efforts to facilitate sustainable development programmes to prevent environmental degradation, and strengthen law enforcement regarding the sale, trafficking and abduction of children, to name a few. (See Appendix 6 for full Recommendations.
South Africa did not opt for a MICS as it was felt that
the information at hand was sufficient for the completion of the EDR
report. The End-decade Review process was spearheaded by the Data
Collection and Monitoring Task Group, a project group of the NPA. The
Monitoring Task Group is chaired by Statistics South Africa.
Unicef provided technical support for the process. A data base on
ChildInfo has been installed at StatsSA and will be used as the main data
base for child related indicators in the future.
The main sources for updating the end-decade goal
indicators were the South Africa Demographic and Health Survey of 1998,
the National Food Consumption Survey (1999), Statistics South Africa
October Household Surveys , Statistics South Africa Census Data (1996),
Central Statistical Survey (1997), National HIV Sero-Prevalence Survey of
women Attending Public Antenatal Clinics in South Africa (1999), Education
for All Report (2000) and a number of other departmental reports. An
important source for the qualitative analysis is the Report on the State
of the Nation’s Children (draft). This Report will be launched early in
2001. It is a comprehensive overview of children in South Africa. After
the launch of this milestone report, it will be an annual report that is
updated and distributed.
For detailed data, see:
National Statistics – Appendix 1
Urban and Rural Breakdown – Appendix 2
Gender and Population Group – Appendix 3
Provincial Breakdown – Appendix 4
Technical Notes – Appendix 5
What roles were played by civil society organization
and other actors, including children?
Workshops
held in six provinces complemented the EDR process.
The workshops to a large extent validated information available at
national level on the priority problems of children and women within the
specific conditions of each province. NGOs and civil society were actively
involved in the whole process through the NPA Steering Committee, as well
as through Provincial Programmes of Action.
How were
findings reached and disseminated?
The State of the Nation’s Children Report and the EDR
will be widely disseminated – to child rights groups, relevant NGOs and
other who engage in children’s and women’s issues. It is foreseen that a
popular version will be produced and more widely disseminated to civil
society, including children.
·
Describe
actions taken under paragraphs 34 and 35 of the World Summit Plan of
Action and briefly assess their impact.
In 1994, the South African government committed itself
to the “first call” for children when an NPA outline was endorsed. Two
years later the NPA was formally launched and since then it has
continued to grow and expand. In order to fully mainstream children’s
issues, the NPA co-ordination moved from the Department of Health to the
Office of the Deputy President (T. Mbeki) in 1998. After the national
elections in 1999, the NPA secretariat moved to the Presidency. Provincial
programmes of Action have been established in all nine provinces, and in
some areas, Local Programmes of Action exist.
The South African Constitution establishes that a
child’s best interests are of paramount importance to the State. In order
to effectively monitor the development of children, and to promote and
protect children’s rights, the Office on the Rights of the Child (ORC) was
established. The ORC is based in the Presidency. The ORC is tasked with
advising the Presidency on children’s issues. But its mandate is much
broader than that. The ORC is the secretariat of the NPA. Within that
context the ORC is actively involved in a national advocacy campaign on
child rights; works with public and community media to promote issues of
children; reviews legislative policies that impact on children;
disseminates child rights materials, including the CRC; liases with local
governments, community-based organisations and NGOs; engages with
international agencies working on children’s issues; dialogues regularly
with all government departments to ensure that children’s issues are
effectively mainstreamed; and monitors progress made around children’s
development.
·
Provide
brief assessments of progress achieved, major constraints faced and
lessons learnt with respect to each of the following ten Specific Actions
for Implementing the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and
Development of Children in the 1990s:
a) to disseminate and promote the earliest possible
ratification of the CRC and thereafter to promote it’s implementation and
monitoring
Communication, information and dissemination is a key
project group of the NPA. Information on the CRC and child rights broadly
is disseminated though a number of means and media. Live community radio
call-in shows have been aired nationally, highlighting issues such as
youth and AIDS and corporal punishment; public television and radio have
been used to convey information on a number of issues; newspapers and
print media have been targeted and a number of child rights special issues
– including child abuse – have been published; a photography exhibition
documenting the lives of children is currently travelling throughout the
country; educational comic strips have been developed and published and
speak directly to children.
The SA country report to the UN was widely disseminated
through NPA mechanisms and NGOs. During Children’s Day (the first Saturday
of November) thousands of “First Call” booklets, and other NPA material
(in a number of languages) was distributed. Government departments, the SA
Human Rights Commission and NGOs also distributed materials to thousands
of children on this day. Public holidays – such as Human Rights Day, Youth
Day, and the 16 Days of Activism on No Violence against Women and Children
– are also used as an opportunity to distribute information and use the
media to focus on issues of women and children’s rights.
b) to
combat childhood diseases through low-cost remedies and by strengthening
primary health care and basic health services; to prioritise the
prevention and treatment of AIDS; to provide universal access to safe
drinking water and sanitary excreta disposal and to control water-borne
diseases;
Primary and basic health care services are free for
pregnant mothers and children under the age of 6 years. The move to
greater decentralisation in health service delivery under the district
health system approach will increase access for women and children to
primary health-care services. The Integrated Management of Childhood
Illness (IMCI) has been introduced to address principal causes of
childhood illness and death at primary health-care facilities, in the
family and in the community. Components of this strategy aim to improve
the health care system supporting primary care facilities as well as key
practices. HIV/AIDS is part of the IMCI strategy. According to the 1998
Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), infant mortality rates are 45 per
1000, with differences in the rate for urban (33) and non-urban (52)
sections of the population. Under-5 Mortality is 59,4 per 1000, and has an
upward trend, probably due to rates of HIV/AIDS. Obstetric practices and
child-feeding options have been modified to reduce mother-to-child
transmission.
The Expanded Programme on Immunisation has been
introduced in order to immunise children against serious childhood
infections. The EPI has succeeded in reducing both polio and measles to
close on elimination. It includes vaccination against Hepatitis B and
haemophilis infection, such as meningitis. The DHS shows that
of children aged 12-23 months, 63 per cent were fully immunised,
with only 2 per cent of children receiving no vaccination. Measles
notifications have dropped from a rate of 20,6 per 100 000 in 1996 to 2,8
in 1997. Only 20 cases of neo-natal tetanus were reported in 1997, and
there have been no polio cases since 1989. Intradermal BCG was introduced
to further reduce morbidity and mortality from Tuberculosis.
South Africa is experiencing one of the most rapidly
progress HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world. HIV/AIDS impacts on children in
a variety of ways – infants born to HIV-positive mothers will be affected
by HIV and some of them will be infected by HIV, adolescents (particularly
girls) are extremely vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, caring for sick family
members and ongoing economic activities fall increasingly to children, and
children orphaned by AIDS face the trauma of bereavement, as well as
poverty in many cases due to the loss of a breadwinner. The government’s
response to the pandemic varies according to the way in which children are
affected. HIV/AIDS strategies are cross-cutting and involve most
government departments, including Health, Welfare and Education. The
majority of infants born with HIV are unlikely to reach school-going age.
Children aged 4-14 years are the largest group of uninfected members of
any HIV-affected community, and are therefore a target for preventative
education. HIV/AIDS education is one of the nine priorities highlighted by
the Department of Education. A core learning programme has been developed
for secondary schools. Preteens and young teenagers who are not yet
sexually active are a particular focus of educational programmes. There is
an HIV/AIDS national policy, whose main aim is to prevent discrimination
against AIDS sufferers, increase awareness and the spread of HIV. The
policy allows for special measures with respect to learners who are
HIV-positive.
In September 2000, the Department of Health announced a
plan to increase the number of research and training sites offering
comprehensive mother-to-child HIV prevention programmes, including
neviropine administration in each province. In July 2000, the government
released the HIV/AIDS and STD strategic plan for South Africa, 2000-2005.
The plan outlines 15 goals in four priority areas including a special
focus on youth. Particular objectives relating include: improved access to
and use of male and female condoms, increased access to youth friendly
reproductive health services and the implementation of programmes to
support the health and social needs of children affected by HIV/AIDS. A
youth sub-directorate within the HIV/AIDS/STD directorate has been
established.
HIV-positive women are counselled with respect to the
dangers of HIV transmission through breast-milk. Contraception is readily
available to sexually active couples over the age of 14 years (children
under 14 years require parental consent).
For children who are affected by HIV/AIDS the main goal
of government is to address their basic needs for food, shelter,
education, family or alternative care, and protection from abuse and
malnutrition. The National Strategic Framework for Children Infected and
Affected by HIV/AIDS is a four-level programme – prevention, early
intervention, statutory process and continuum of care. There is no grant
intended specifically for the care for children orphaned because of
HIV/AIDS. But current grants which could be applied for include the foster
grant, the child support grant and care dependency grant.
With respect to access to water, by the end of 1999,
more than 4,4 million people in rural areas gained access to improved
quality of water. However, the legacy of apartheid has left great
inequities with respect to access to water. Between 12-14 million people
do not have access to safe water, and an estimated 12 million South
Africans do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. According
to Census 1996, most children aged 10-17 years use pit latrines as
toilets. Many public buildings, such as schools, lack basic water
services. In 24 per cent of schools, there is no water available within
walking distance. A programme to identify rural communities that do not
have access to potable water on site has been embarked upon. In 1999, over
60 projects were identified where water and sanitation have improved. The
government is committed to increasing access to water and sanitation
services. By the end of 1999, the government had spent R 3,37 billion on
programmes for water provision.
The 1996 Census shows that many children aged 10-17
years use their own refuse dump for the disposing of household refuse. A
number of programmes exist to educate children on issues of hygiene and
sanitation. These include health promotion and education for schools and
clinics, and improved water and sanitation education in informal and urban
fringe settlements.
Diarrhoea and Acute Respiratory Infection cause a
quarter of deaths in children under five years old. Administration of Oral
Rehydration Therapy (ORT) is a simple way to counter the effects of
dehydration and there has been extensive education about this. Fifty-eight
per cent of children with diarrhoea were treated with some type of ORT.
The recent outbreak of cholera in some provinces highlights the fragile
infrastructure for safe water supply and sanitary health.
c) to overcome malnutrition, including by ensuring household food security and by developing strategies that include employment and income-generating opportunities; dissemination of knowledge; and support to increased food production and distribution;
Child nutrition is high on the list of government
priorities. The 1995 Food Security Survey found that 40 per cent
households do not have enough to eat. Food insecurity and insufficient
nutrient intake are closely associated with poverty and inadequate living
conditions. One in three children has Vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A
status can effectively be improved by the routine provision of high-dose
Vitamin A supplements. A proposed policy document recommends the
distribution of high dose Vitamin A capsules either at growth monitoring
visits or through the Expanded Programme of Immunisations. The policy has
been approved. Implementation is ongoing.
Regulations requiring the iodisation of food grade salt
has shown good progress in the elimination of Iodine Deficiency Disorders.
A follow-up survey conducted in 1998 among primary school children, since
the enactment of the regulations in 1995, showed that about 90 per cent of
children were iodine replete.
The breast-feeding policy recommends exclusive
breast-feeding from birth to about 6 months because it limits exposure to
disease while providing all the nutrients an infant needs (including
Vitamin A). To further promote, protect and support breastfeeding, 23
hospitals have become baby-friendly.
The Integrated Nutrition Programme (INP) aims to
improve the nutritional status of all South Africans through the
implementation of integrated nutrition activities. Because young children
are particularly vulnerable to the effects of malnutrition, children aged
0-60 months old and primary school children from poor households are
priority targets of the INP. The Primary School Nutrition Programme (PSNP)
aims to provide a meal a day for primary school children. Since 1995,
expenditure on the PSNP has increased from R 500 million to R 555,68
million in 1999/2000. in 1998/9 the PSNP targeted 17 500 out of 22 582
primary schools. Some 87 per cent of the 5,6-million targeted learners
were reached, representing 56 per cent of all primary school learners. In
many areas, developmental projects, including women’s groups, have been
linked with school feeding schemes.
An evaluation of PSNP found that although the overall
objective of hunger alleviation had been met, greater inroads need to be
made in addressing nutrition education, parasite eradication and improved
developmental linkages. A parasite control programme is ongoing in two
provinces.
The INP recognises that malnutrition is caused by a
number of factors, and is not only the result of inadequate food intake.
Poverty is the main determinant of child well-being. The immediate causes
of malnutrition include inadequate dietary intake, disease and
psycho-social stress and trauma. The underlying determinants, however,
include food security, access to basic health services and a healthy
environment, and education and information. To address these determinants,
community-based nutrition development projects, which focus on household
food security and income generation projects, have been initiated. They
are funded through the Poverty Alleviation Fund and INP Conditional Grant.
Over R 18 million has been approved for 198 projects in all the provinces.
d) to enhance the status of girls and women and ensure their full access to health, nutrition, education, training, credit, extension, family planning, pre-natal, delivery referral and other basic services;
Girl children in South Africa have far easier access to
health, nutrition, and education than their sisters in other parts of
Africa. Although most surveys in South Africa have not given specific
focus to the situation of the girl-child, girls and young women are
subject to patriarchal practices both within the family and broader
society. Girl children are subject to shockingly high incidences of rape,
child abuse and gender violence. Gender stereotyping can be seen in the
division of labour in the home and in compromised educational outcomes.
Girl children are especially disadvantaged in the area
of sexual health. They have difficulty accessing contraceptives available
at clinics, health centres and hospital. Health care workers are often
resistant to teenage girls exercising their choice of termination of
pregnancy. Their lack of economic and physical power render them
vulnerable to participation in unwanted sexual activities with the risk of
sexually transmitted diseases including HIV. In 1998, 21 per cent of
pregnant girls under the age of 20 were HIV-positive.
There is no research evidence of female
circumcision/genital mutilation, though there are suspicions that it is
taking place in some communities.
Girls account for approximately 50 per cent of primary
school enrolments. At secondary school level, they account for 55 per
cent. However, they are generally out-performed by boys. An analysis of
Standard 10 exam results shows that the pass rate among males is higher
than among females. When it comes to school attendance there are problems
specific to girls. The continued attendance of girls, particularly in
rural areas, does not seem to be as important as the attendance of boys.
Some girls may be withdrawn from school so that they can prepare to be
married and are then expected to bear children. (However it should be
noted that of children aged 6-14 years, a greater percentage of boys than
girls are out of school. This is usually for economic reasons, whereby
boys are expected to bear the financial burden of a poor household.)
Pregnancy rates among school-going girls are high. By
the age of 19 years, 35 per cent of all teenagers have been pregnant. The
DHS found that antenatal care was received from a doctor, nurse or midwife
for 94 per cent of all births. Eighty-four per cent of women surveyed
received medical assistance at delivery. Maternal health care is being
strengthened through, among others, the introduction of perinatal
education programme for all health-care workers. The Choice on Termination
of Pregnancy Act gives women the right to a safe and legal termination of
pregnancy on request in the first 12 weeks, and for other specific
conditions, up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Gender violence is a major problem. Studies in
different parts of the country suggest that girls’ sexual encounters are
coercive and violent. Sexual abuse is prevalent in schools from educators,
fellow learners and outsiders who access schools.
e) to ensure support for parents and other caregivers in nurturing and caring for children; to prevent separation of children from their families and, where such separation takes place, to ensure appropriate alternative family care or institutional placement;
Traditional family structures of black South Africans
have been profoundly altered by the institutionalised State racism of the
apartheid era. Labour policies separated black women and men from their
families, and widespread poverty has also impacted on household
structures. Family life is under pressure due to economic factors,
unemployment, lack of food security, violence and substance abuse. The
majority of families living in poverty contain three, sometimes, four,
generations. There is an increase in female-headed households. High
numbers of children are born out of formal partnerships. Poor families
survive by drawing on a network of relatives and friends who can help
them. Household structures are fluid as relations come and go depending on
the availability of work and child care, the nearness of schools and the
needs of relatives.
Unemployment rates are high at over 30 per cent, and
over 40 per cent for women, with the rate being highest for rural African
women. Parents who secure employment, monthly income is strongly related
to gender and population group – African women earn the least with 47,5
per cent earning less than R 500 per month.
Social security consists of means-tested grant payments
to the elderly, disabled and households with children. This accounts for
91 per cent of welfare expenditure and is the government’s primary
investment in poverty alleviation. In poor households State transfers
account for 26 per cent of income, wages 40 per cent, remittances 17 per
cent and the remaining 17 per cent from other sources. The main
beneficiaries often include households with young children.
Grants that directly affect children are the foster
grant which provides support to relatives and non-relatives who are
providing a child with a nurturing and safe home environment. The care
dependency grant is for care givers of profoundly mentally or physically
disabled children. This is to enable the full-time care in the child’s own
home. The child support benefit grant is for children under the age of 7
years who qualify in terms of a means test weighted to rural areas and
informal settlements.
The Transformation of the Child and Youth Care System,
which began in 1995, focuses on children at risk of being taken into
alternative care and those already in various facilities offering care and
protection, education and treatment or secure accommodation and detention.
The framework emphasises early prevention and intervention.
Children in need of special protection and assistance
can be brought before the children’s court. If found to be in need of
care, they are placed in alternative care. In a crisis, a child may be
removed without a court order and placed in a place of safety pending
investigation. There are over 140 registered children’s homes in the
country with over 700 beds and 37 places of safety with over 2 000 beds.
Use of children’s homes has declined from the previous years and the
number of children in foster homes has increased from 1997.
The foster parent system provides for formal placement
of children with screened and trained foster parents under the guidance of
a social worker. Both related or unrelated persons may foster children.
f) to ensure priority for early childhood development; universal access to basic education; reduction of adult literacy; vocational training and preparation for work; and increased acquisition of knowledge, skills and values through all available channels;
Early childhood development (ECD) expansion and
promotion is a key priority of the NPA. This year the government committed
millions of rand in funding towards ECD. A national ECD pilot project has
set standards and an accreditation system for practitioners. A feature of
the pilot project is that it utilises existing community-based preschool
projects to offer the reception year programme, and NGOs to train
teachers. As part of the pilot project, children and families who live in
extreme poverty are targeted. The project explores ways of supporting the
needs of young children, their families and ECD educators in the inner
city through a multi-functional resource centres.
The flagship programme “Developmental Programmes for
Unemployed Women and Children Under Five Years” is concerned with the
intersecting needs of women and children. Objectives of the programme
include building women’s capacity for economic independence and
empowerment, as well as providing developmentally appropriate education
for children aged 0-5 years. The programme provides access to ECD
opportunities. Children are either placed in an existing ECD centre or are
cared for by trained women at the project site.
The South African Schools Act of 1996 provides that
basic education is compulsory for all learners from ages 7-15 years. The
Act bans unfair admission policies and discriminatory educational
practices, but school governing bodies may decide on admission policies.
A high portion of public expenditure is allocated to
education – approximately 22 per cent of the total budget.
Enrolment rates in school are favourable compared to
other developing countries. However, there are high repetition rates, poor
learning outcomes and an adult illiteracy rate of 37 per cent. The
apartheid legacy is vast in the education system, especially through the
Bantu Education Act which institutionalised racism and disadvantage.
An estimated five per cent of children between the ages
of 10-16 years are out of school. Learners outside the system include
children on farms, children who do not attend school on a regular basis,
street children, learners with severe disabilities. Common reasons for
being out of school include deep poverty, lack of a stable family, moving
from place to place, or some children drop out of school to take care of
sick parents. There are policy commitments to support out-of-school
children (flexible learning strategies and entry and exit points).
Though enrolment rates are high, efficiency in terms of
output remains a concern. Poor performance in schools is directly related
to problems of quality – poor teacher-pupil ratios, textbook and equipment
shortages, inadequate teaching practices and facilities – and inequitable
funding.
Nine main priorities have been identified in order to
build an education and training system for the 21st century.
The priorities include, decreasing levels of illiteracy, developing a
professional quality among teachers, dealing with HIV/AIDS through
education and training systems, and promoting learning through
outcomes-based education. The Culture of Learning, Teaching and Service
(COLTS) is a campaign which aims to improve efficiency and productivity in
education and training systems. COLTS focuses on having all teachers
teaching and all learners learning, eliminating crime in schools, basic
resourcing of schools and involvement of communities in schools.
Curriculum programmes focus on outcomes-based
approaches with a focus on skills, values and attitudes. The Language in
Education Policy promotes the principle of maintaining home language which
providing access to and the effective provision of additional languages.
The most used medium of instruction in public schools is English, then
Afrikaans, followed by Zulu and Xhosa.
Since 1993 there has been a growth rate in tertiary
institutions (this includes technikons and universities). The Adult Basic
Education and Training (ABET) policy seeks to address the historical
inequities of apartheid. ABET programmes build partnerships between
tertiary institutions, private sector, trade unions, NGOs and other
stakeholders in order to promote adult learning.
An Assessment Report on the Education system (2000)
recommends, among others, the expansion of ECD programmes, greater
spending of the education budget on direct inputs, the expedited building
of schools and basic infrastructure, capacity building among personnel and
the increase use of media and technology to enhance teaching and learning.
g) to ensure special attention to children living under especially difficult circumstances; including by ending their exploitation through labour; and by combating drug, tobacco and alcohol abuse among young people;
Children living in especially difficult circumstances
include children who have been accused of crimes, children who have been
abused, neglected and abandoned children, refugee children, and children
involved in labour. In terms of children accused of crimes, legislation
has been drafted. The legislation does, among other things, set new
minimum age of criminal capacity, ensure individual assessment of each
children, establish a new procedure called the Preliminary Inquiry and
provides a creative range of sentencing options. Although there is no
specific statute setting out the law relating to children accused of
crimes, there are a number of Acts which, read together, form a system for
dealing with such children. These are the Criminal Procedure Act, the
Correctional Services Act, the Child Care Act and the Probation Services
Act.
Although it is often reported that crimes committed by
children are on the increase, this is not borne out by statistics. Data
show a steady drop in the number of children convicted per year since
1977.
The Constitution stipulates that every child has the
right not to be detained except as a measure of last resort. Such a child
has the right to be kept separately from persons over the age of 18 years,
and to be treated in a manner and kept in conditions that take into
account the child’s age.
Probation services have increased services to children
in detention. An intersectoral effort entitled Project Go works to get
children out of custody. Diversion programmes, run by NGOs and government,
exist teaching children to be responsible for their actions. And a number
of pilot projects aimed at trying out new and enhanced service delivery
models are being run through partnerships between government and NGOs.
Under current legislation, children can be sentenced to
imprisonment. There is a statutory limit on the age of the child or on the
length of the sentence. Case law has established age to be a mitigating
factor, and that all children sentenced to imprisonment must have a
probation officer’s report presented at the court prior to sentencing. In
practice, children under the age of 14 years are not often sentenced to
imprisonment. The majority of people under the age of 18 years serve
prison sentences of less than five years. According to Correctional
Services there are approximately 1 375 children serving prison sentences.
The legal system has an effective and reasonably prompt
review system. A directive regarding the management of awaiting trial
children has been issued. All children sentenced to terms of imprisonment
of more than six months have their sentences taken on automatic review by
a judge of the High Court, and sentences are regularly set aside or
altered through this process.
Child abuse and Neglect
Much child abuse and neglect remains under- or
unreported, and there is no centralised data-collection system. In 1998,
the Police Services Child Protection Unit dealt with 37 352 reported
crimes against children. It is a criminal offence for any parent,
guardian, or person having custody to ill-treat child or allow a child to
be ill-treated or abandoned. The Child Care Act places statutory
obligation on every dentists, medical practitioner, nurse, social worker,
teacher or any person employed by or managing a children’s home, place of
care and shelter, who suspects that a child has been ill-treated or
intentionally injured to notify the director-general of his/her designate of the
circumstances. The Prevention of Family Violence Act also provides for the
reporting of suspected child abuse. The Domestic Violence Act allows for a
protection order to be brought on behalf of a child exposed to abuse by
someone with a parental responsibility. The application may be brought by
a counsellor, health service provider, member of the Police Service,
social worker or teacher without the consent of the child.
When a notification of abuse or neglect is received, it
is investigated by a social worker, and if necessary, a children’s court
inquiry is instituted. If the child appears to be in grave danger, s/he
may be removed to a place of safety. An integrated national strategy on
child abuse and neglect is currently being developed with the full
participation of all relevant government departments in consultation with
NGOs and civil society. The government has committed to the creation of
One Stop Centres for children who have been abused. These centres will
ensure that the system is cohesive and co-ordinated and that children do
not go from one service provider to the next in an ad hoc manner.
A number of prevention activities take place. The SA
Police Services conduct talks in schools, preschools and community groups.
Curriculum in schools has a focus on child rights and child abuse as part
of the Life Orientation learning area. Educators are being trained both to
recognise signs of abuse and how to intervene in suspected cases of abuse.
Child victims testifying in court have special
protections afforded to them by the Criminal Procedure Act. The court may
be held in private, with no-one present other than the child witness and
his/her guardian. In cases when the court believes that the child will
experience “undue mental stress or suffering” from testifying, the court
may appoint an intermediary through whom all examination and
cross-examination takes place. Criminal courts for victims of sexual
offences have been developed as pilot projects.
A number of community organisations train volunteers as
lay counsellors for children. In many areas, sexual abuse support groups
are available for children from as young as five years old.
Refugee Children
Refugee children are a particularly vulnerable groups.
Some come with intact families, some with fragmented families, some with
other adults, others alone. They are often traumatised, have lost family
members or been exposed to war. Of 60 000 refugee applicants, 1 470 were
filed by or on behalf of persons under the age of 18. The United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees along with local NGO partners provide basic
assistance to a limited number of needy, vulnerable refugees. Access to
education for refugee children is guaranteed, although refugee children do
face obstacles to admission to schools. The Department of Welfare has
developed proposed procedures to safeguard undocumented children or
refugee children. The procedures include protection of children in
accordance to the CRC, interdepartmental liaison when a child in being
dealt with, and utilising the International Social Service, if necessary,
to trace a child’s family.
Child labour
Many children work to support themselves or their
families. A recent screening test found that at least one child was
engaged on an economic activity in 11 per cent of households, and in 23
per cent of households at least one child was doing more than one hour of
household chores a day. While it is reasonable to expect children to
contribute to household chores in some cases children have such severe
responsibilities that their school going is undermined. This includes
children with full time responsibility for child care or care of sick
relatives, and boys left to watch cattle in the context of unsupportive
extended family situations. Girls are especially vulnerable because of
their traditional household roles. In a recent study on the East Rand in
Gauteng, the primary reason either for being out of school or old for
grade for 7 per cent of the sample was excessive household chores. Another
survey found a large percentage of rural households engaged in subsistence
farming use family members to help with crop production and animal
herding. Child labour is more commonly used than adult labour in this
instance.
However, it is difficult to establish the exact extent
of child labour in South Africa due to the absence of accurate data on the
numbers of economically active children and the invisibility of child
workers. According to an analysis done on the October Household Survey of
1994 as many as 200 000 children of 10 – 14 years (4 per cent of that age
group) have worked. This figure is considered to be an underestimate of
the full extent of children working in South Africa because children under
10 were not included in the study. The survey found that at least one in
every three child workers in South Africa live in commercial farming areas
outside towns and most of them worked in agriculture.
In terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act
(promulgated in March 1998), it is illegal to employ children under 15 or
under minimum school leaving age. The Act protects children between 15 and
18 from hazardous employment and also prohibits forced labour. Any person
who employs a child in contravention of the stipulated provisions, commits
a criminal offence. This law is in line with the Minimum Age Convention
(No 138, 1973) of the International Labour Organisation.
The SA Schools Act, which requires parents to send
children to school until the last day of the year in which child turns 15,
or 9th grade, whichever is first, and the Child Care Act, which
outlaws employment of children under age 15 (except where a notice of
exemption is granted by the Minister and published in Government Gazette),
also provide legal protection from child labour.
The Child Labour Inter-sectoral Group (C.L.I.G.), a
national stakeholders forum co-ordinated by the Department of Labour, has
developed a programme of action to address child labour problems and
issues. This is a multi-pronged approach as legislation on its own will
not be able to solve the problem of child labour which is poverty related.
The current survey on child labour, once completed, will help with
refining of the Child Labour Action Plan.
Aspects of a Child Labour Action Programme includes a
programme of awareness raising and education of parents, employers,
children and employees, steps to ensure effective enforcement of
legislation on child labour and to monitor enforcement. social and
economic policies to combat poverty including job creation programmes
focussed on needs of families and community investment in people from
early childhood, and rehabilitation programmes for children withdrawn from
work.
Commercial Sexual Exploitation
Commercial sexual
exploitation is categorised as one of the worst forms of child labour.
There are no official figures on the incidence or use of children in
prostitution and pornography as well as the sale and trafficking of
children for commercial sexual exploitation. Qualitative research suggests
that it is widespread and growing. Research by the National Alliance
against Child Labour has shown the migrant labour hostels are frequently
serviced by school girls, and child prostitution organised around the
commuter taxi industry has been reported all over the country. The
increase in tourism is likely to increase sex tourism.
A study on sexual exploitation of children in South
Africa in 1996 identified poverty as a main contributing factor. The most
common forms of exploitation at that time were by families, sometimes as
the only income in the family, by community members in exchange for food,
money, clothing or luxury items like soap, shampoo, by peers at school in
exchange for lunch or 50c, R2.00, and by gangs who exploited children in
exchange for money, food or debts owed by parents or other family members.
The Network Against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of
Children (NASEC) was established in 1996 comprising about 40 organisations
which are concerned about child sex crimes and their consequences. In 1999
NASEC hosted a national conference to plan an agenda for action against
the sexual exploitation of children in South Africa. Stakeholders included
government, NGOs and grassroots organisations. The role of communities in
making children less vulnerable to sexual exploitation was stressed.
Further, a national consultative conference on the
sexual exploitation of children was held at parliament in 1999. It was
attended by the Welfare and Justice Ministers showing how seriously
government views this abuse.
A new Child Care Amendment Act (1999) has been accepted
by Parliament. The Act enforces the protection of children against
commercial sexual exploitation. Provision has been made for law
enforcement against perpetrators and those who own, lease, mange or occupy
property on which the commercial sexual exploitation of children occurs
and fail to report such occurrence within a reasonable time. Other
legislation includes the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of
International child Abduction, Act 1996, the Films and Publications Act of
1996 and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
Alcohol misuse is one of the most common forms of risk
behaviour among South African youth. A South African National Drug Master
Plan was developed by the former Drug Advisory Board in response to drug
abuse and its related harmful consequences. Youth are a priority focus of
the plan. Objectives include provision of counselling, treatment and
rehabilitation serves for young people. However the emphasis is on
prevention through awareness raising and education of youth, their parents
and teachers. Education programmes focus on healthy lifestyle
alternatives, the development of general lifeskills and advocacy abilities
h) to ensure special protection of children in armed conflict and to build a foundation for a peaceful world by promoting the values of peace, tolerance, understanding and dialogue
No children in South Africa participate in armed
conflict. The age for recruitment
in the National Defence Force is 18 years. However child
participation in armed conflict has been a feature of the liberation
struggle where many black children were involved in the liberation
struggle inside and outside of the country from an early age, and white
children were conscripted to support the nationalist government.
South African children have been, and still are,
exposed to inordinately high and traumatic levels of violence in many
forms – political, criminal, domestic and structural. Between 1985 and
1995 there were more than 20 000 deaths as a result of political violence.
More than half occurred in one province. Of all the crimes reported by
young people, 59 per cent on incidents involve rape, 15 per cent assault,
10 per cent violence and intimidation.
An effect of these high levels of violence has been
that violence has to a large degree come to be seen as normal. Violence is
seen as the only means of resolving conflict and children who have had
violent experiences are inclined to being violent themselves. Because the
problems resulting from the direct and indirect effects of violence have
not adequately been dealt with by social services the NPA has established
Peace and Non-violence as a cross-cutting priority.
Initiatives to curb violence and empower young people
and their families include the Domestic Violence Act (1998). The Firearms
Control Bill aims at reducing the proliferation of firearms by restricting
the number of licences issues by the State and ensuring that those unfit
to own guns do not obtain licences. The South African Schools Act outlaws
corporal punishment in schools.
The Department of Health and many NGOs work to empower
victims and provide mental health services to help those traumatised by
violence. The Buyela ekhaya (go
back home) has been established for families displaced due to violence on
the East Rand. A number of efforts have been made to reduce the level of
political violence.
The National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) has been
developed in response to the dire levels of crime. The strategy advocates
a shift from crime control to crime prevention. The framework rests on
four pillars: the criminal justice process, public values and education,
environmental design and transnational crime.
A number of areas have Safe Schools projects. They use
developmental approaches and involve the wider community and prevention
training for staff and students. Safe Schools aims to develop schools into
centres of excellence with strong community links, quality learning and
teaching, effective governance and management. Prevention projects include
conflict mediation, peer mediation, and community involvement.
i) to prevent the degradation of the environment by pursing the World Summit Goals, by inculcating respect for the natural environment, and by changing wasteful consumption patterns;
Increasing access to basic water, sanitation and
shelter, as well as ensuring food hygiene, has been the major focus of
environmental health policy. Children are, however, exposed to other
environmental risks such as exposure to air pollution and other harmful
substances, such as lead, and it is their right to be protected from
these. The White Paper on Environmental Management (1997) is a framework
for addressing all aspects of the environment.
The Pollution Control project was initially piloted in
one province and is now operating in all the provinces. This and STOP
(Safety Towards Our People), which focuses on the safe use of chemicals,
both emphasise good hygiene practices. There is an attempt to involve
community-based organisations in these projects to make them
self-sustaining. j) to address poverty and debt; mobilize development finance; halt the net transfer of resources from developing to developed countries; establish an equitable trading system; and ensure children are given priority in economic and social development
While South Africa in per capita terms is an upper
middle income country, many South Africans experience poverty, or are
vulnerable to being poor. Income and wealth distribution is among the most
unequal in the world, with black groups significantly poorer than whites.
The broad
macro-economic policy – Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) – of
the government was introduced in
1996 to help build the economy. There are many aspects of GEAR policy,
which are potentially beneficial to children. These include a focus on
redistribution, improving infrastructure and human resource development. A
stable macro-economic foundation is essential for sustainable economic
growth, which in turn is good for children. Government has committed
itself to continuing its policy of
reprioritising public spending to maintain and improve the safety net
available to the most disadvantaged in our society while ensuring that the
quality of spending and service delivery is improved and children should
be a priority focus.
One of the legacies of apartheid has been a large national debt. A key
element of GEAR is to service the national debt. Servicing the debt has
implications for spending in other areas. For this reason, calls for debt
reduction have mounted and are receiving international attention. In
1999/2000, South African debt-service costs amounted to R 48 522 million,
or 22.25 percent of the total budget expenditure.
Regardless, the amount of money spent on social services, in proportion to
other expenditures, is high compared to other similar middle-income
countries. Over half of the budget, for example, is devoted to education,
health and welfare services.
In the 2000 Budget Speech, it was noted that spending
on social services will continue to take up the bulk of non-interest
spending in 2000/01. Over time, personnel spending will grow less quickly
then spending on other elements (such as textbooks, medicines, etc). The
government committed itself to R582 million/year for the integrated
nutrition program for the next three years, R16,9 million for 2000/01 for
a new conditional grant designed to provide an enabling environment for
the take up rate of the child support grant, and another grant of R202
million for the financial management and quality enhancement for education
departments. Over the next three years, R500 million has been earmarked
for the integrated HIV/AIDS strategy for children (involving the
departments of health, education and welfare).
Millions of rand have been allocated to the poverty
alleviation fund. The programme seeks to fight poverty by building
capacity and creating jobs, particularly in rural areas.
·
Provide a
summary of the key factors that have inhibited, or enabled progress for
children, and an overview of the remaining challenges and key issues
Since the first democratic elections, much has been
learnt regarding the situation of children. The focus of President Mbeki’s
presidency thus far has been on effective service delivery. Much has been
achieved in this realm, but much more needs to be done.
In order for services to be delivered, policies and
programmes must be implemented, and the NPA is well placed to ensure that
such implementation takes place. Although Provincial Programmes of Action
for Children are active in all provinces, there is a keen awareness that
the NPA process must continue to filter down to the local level. Creating
and strengthening Local Plans of Action are key to the future of the NPA
process.
In order for this localising process to be successful,
there must continue to be effective co-ordination of the process and
monitoring of implementation. Co-ordinating nine provinces and possibly
hundreds of LPAs remains a challenge. But the ORC, as secretariat of the
NPA is well-placed as a national co-ordination body.
·
Make
recommendations for future national and international action including
wherever possible, specific national commitments
The government of SA is committed to promoting and
protecting the rights of her children. Through the ORC, the government is
specifically committed to a number of child-related initiatives. Continued
data collection and research on children is a vital initiative. Little
reliable data is available for the past and SA is committed to creating
and monitoring relevant data and information on children.
The ORC will continue to monitor and review existing,
and upcoming, government programmes to ensure that they are in the best
interests of the child.
All government departments, nationally and
provincially, are committed to intersectoral collaboration. For instance,
there has been a shifting of resources to early childhood development as
well as the cementing of collaboration among the departments of health,
welfare and education.
The government commits itself to the sustainable
promotion of children’s rights. Nationally, the government has given
priority to issues of children by placing the Office on the Rights of the
Child at the highest government. We will ensure remains this way so that
children’s issues can be promoted and protected by all.
|
|