Hon Chairperson, it is a privilege to participate in this important debate today. When we refer to protection there should be no distinction between whether the child is a South African citizen or a foreigner. Too many atrocities have occurred recently - we have noted the rape, death, abandonment and abuse of babies, children and even adolescents. Many of these acts were committed by people known to these children.
Early this year, during the month of June, we celebrated Child Protection Week. The aim of Child Protection Week is to raise awareness and mobilise all sectors and communities towards the holistic development, care and protection of children. As parents, schools, communities and society we must all work together to not just protect our children but campaign for harsher sentences for sex offenders and people who commit horrendous acts against children and who have been found guilty.
South Africa has some of the best legislation in place to ensure the protection of our children. This country is also a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We need to become more aware of the protection that we provide our children and be more vigilant in wanting to make a difference to the lives and protection of children. It is therefore unacceptable that the National Child Protection Register, which was assented to by the President of South Africa in June 2006, contains only one name of a convicted sexual perpetrator against children. Every day an estimated 60 child rape cases are reported. The rights of children are protected in terms of the Children's Act, which must ensure the harmonious development of children while recognising the need for children to grow up in an environment of happiness, love and understanding. All the reports of abuse or deliberate neglect of a child and records of persons who are unsuitable to work with children must be recorded. This is to protect children in general against the perpetrators of abuse.
Children are one of the most vulnerable sectors of our communities. Two weeks ago, a young girl was kidnapped by a person who had been convicted of a number of transgressions against young girls. Yet this man was unconditionally released into society even when his transgressions could have further mutated to the point where he killed and burnt an innocent victim.
Last Monday, three policemen were among those arrested for keeping five underaged girls as sex slaves. This highlights the total disrespect the sexual perpetrators and also other offenders have for the law. One of the most important issues that we have to commit to is to ensure that the Children's Act is fully implemented and that the National Child Protection Register remains updated.
Children must not only be protected from sexual acts committed against them but also from problems such as hunger, disease, homelessness and addiction. Further protection for vulnerable children includes the 24-hour child protection services. A toll-free number for easy referral and residential care for children in child and youth care centres are available.
Another important aspect regarding the protection of children is the investment in the early childhood development, ECD, programme. ECD is one of the most important anchors of the poverty reduction strategy in the Western Cape. This year, 2011, will see 90 000 children throughout the Western Cape having access to ECD programmes. That is why it is also important that all ECD centres must register with the department in order for them to develop and provide children with the best access and support for development and growth.
Children and young people in child-headed households are vulnerable because they have to cope without adults on a day-to-day basis. Generally they have poorer living conditions than other children. Apart from the support and services rendered by the local offices of the Department of Social Development, about 42 funded nonprofit organisations also render services to these children in the Western Cape.
Under the leadership of Premier Helen Zille, the Western Cape government has also taken real action to address the problem of maintenance defaulters. Too often the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children initiative results in speeches being made and T-shirts being handed out. No real action takes place to bring about change in the lives of those affected.
During the campaign in 2010, notable successes were achieved in the Western Cape in the child maintenance campaign during this 16 Days of Activism period. During that period, 71 defaulters were found and 59 arrests were made. About 210 women who did not collect money that was owed to them were traced. Apart from these successes, the campaign also generated awareness and became an incentive for men to pay maintenance. This is important because the livelihood and wellbeing of children depend on maintenance being paid. The Premier of the Western Cape has stated in her 2011-12 Budget Vote speech that her office received many reports from women who stated that their children's fathers have started paying maintenance again for fear of being tracked down and named in the campaign.
In order for us to have a meaningful debate about working together to protect our children, we need to pay attention to the words of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. In the foreword to the South African Child Gauge 2010-11 he said:
As a nation, we have made remarkable progress in building the legal foundation for ensuring children's best interests. Now is the time to put policies of inclusion into action by listening to children and feeding their insights into the way we run our schools, clinics, hospitals, social services, courts and government departments.
We need to shift our focus if we want to address successfully the protection of our children. Opportunities must be created for them to participate in all the spaces that impact on their lives, and this includes having them share the fears they face and listening to their feelings. These can then be addressed, or we can consider what needs to happen, in order for them to feel safe and be protected.
Many children are already playing an active role in sustaining communities and often these communities depend on the work and services provided by these children. These range from caring for sick relatives and maintaining the links between scattered family members. Thus the importance of protecting our children is informed by a wide variety of factors and influences. We must ensure that children are not exploited when they are sustaining families or communities but must be protected sometimes also in order for social cohesion to exist.
It is vital that children are also made aware of what is right and wrong and that the choices they make will sometimes have dire consequences. They must have an awareness that their involvement with things like the making and distribution of pornography involving other children will have grave consequences. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Ms N D SIKHOSANA (KwaZulu-Natal): Hon Chair, hon Minister of Transport, S Ndebele, hon Deputy Minister M M Sotyu, MECs present, and hon delegates, the protection of children is of paramount importance to any society because children are the future of any nation. In South Africa, children's rights are enshrined in the Constitution, but they are nonetheless continuously violated, hence the theme chosen for this debate: "Working together to protect our children".
Social and cultural practices such as ukuthwala - child abduction and early marriage - are often given as excuses for the violation of the rights of children. Ukuthwala is a custom that is mainly practised in some rural communities, for example, in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. These are just examples, I am not saying this is not happening in other provinces too. The practice involves the abduction of girls for marriage, sometimes with the consent of the girl's parents. The practice often affects girls from the ages of 10 to 15 years, without their consent.
This practice impacts negatively, both directly and indirectly, on the development of the girl-child, resulting in social isolation, denial of the right to education, poor life skills, psychosocial harm, early pregnancy and childbirth, as well as the risk of exposure to HIV/Aids. The children affected by HIV/Aids, due to their own infection or because of parental illness or death, are less likely to receive an education, as they leave school to care for ailing parents and younger siblings.
South Africa is also a transit source and destination country for trafficked children. South African girls are trafficked within South Africa for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, while boys are trafficked internally for use in street vending, food service and agriculture.
Child sex tourism is prevalent in a number of South African cities. Organised crime groups, including African, Asian and East European syndicates, together with local gangs, facilitate trafficking into and within South Africa, particularly for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. These practices continue in spite of the Children's Act, Act 38 of 2005, which clearly stipulates that "every child has the right not to be subjected to social, cultural and religious practices which are detrimental to his or her wellbeing".
There is therefore an urgent need for our society to prioritise the rights and protection of our children to combat the widespread violation of their rights. National government must commit to working collaboratively with all spheres of government and with civil society organisations, particularly at grass-roots level, in educating and developing integrated programmes to fight all the ills that are afflicting our society, in particular the violation of human rights.
In his state of the province address, the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Zweli Mkhize, noted that education was the foundation upon which the future of our country would be built. He called on the entire school community to rally behind the education of every child, reminding us of his words from a previous address: "Ingane yakho yingane yami," which means "My child is your child and your child is my child". This campaign has been so successful in some areas - the ones we call "war rooms" - because we are not looking at the child only. The approach is to eradicate poverty, improve health and tackle all the ills I am talking about. Those are the war rooms where everything is focused on prioritising the child and everything the child needs.
To this end, it has been encouraging to see the Department of Social Development, in collaboration with the SA Police Service, conducting awareness campaigns on legislation protecting women and children. The ANC- led government has to be applauded for creating an enabling environment for civil society to participate more effectively. More work still needs to be done to create a caring society that respects the rights of all its citizens. We have heard speaker after speaker talking about some of the challenges that we still face.
Allow me to take this opportunity to congratulate the women leaders in the DA who have been newly elected into top leadership positions. In the same breath I would like to commend the ANC Women's League, which has led a campaign for all organisations, including the political parties represented in our Parliament, to begin looking at the issue of women and working towards an equal, 50/50 distribution in appointments. I hope the ANC Women's League will continue to do that and that our sisters in the DA will come and have discussions with the ANC Women's League so that this issue can spread to other parties as well. [Applause.]