Hon Chairperson, as the world celebrates this International Children's Day, it is time for us, as a society, to reflect on both the advances that we have made and the road ahead we have yet to travel in terms of children's rights as enshrined in section 28 of our Constitution. According to our Constitution, children are the only group entitled to second-generation human rights.
Indeed, as a country, we have made some advances in protecting the rights of our children. The extension of the school feeding scheme to high schools is one of many such achievements, because hunger does not stop at primary school level.
The ID adds its voice to the chorus of condemnation of the recent deaths of innocent babies in our state hospitals. The noble attempts by our hon Minister of Health to reduce infant mortality are being undermined by sheer negligence on the part of some health care workers. There can be absolutely no excuse for such negligence and human error.
As we are preparing to polish and shine our cities for the 2010 Fifa World Cup in about 10 days, many of our municipalities are busy with operations to rid our streets of street children. This is in order to make our cities more aesthetically pleasing.
Obviously, these roundups, as they are commonly called, are conducted because street children are seen as an eyesore for our visitors. It is regrettable that instead of dealing with the source of the problem, we hide it from the public eye and pretend it does not exist.
The eThekwini Municipality has been the biggest culprit with these cleanup operations, as was seen during previous international events held in the city. In February this year, a shocking operation was conducted by the Metro Police in Durban.
They forcefully bundled children into police vehicles and used pepper spray to prevent them from escaping. Some children were seen with bloodied faces, screaming from inside police vehicles.
As the ID, our call is for the immediate suspension of these illegal roundups and the abuse of street children. Government must rather focus on strategic interventions that will allow for proper engagement with street children. This should include therapeutic interventions, which will create an environment that is conducive for their sustainable integration into society.
The Child Justice Act also makes provision for corrective action rather than punitive measures. This is, therefore, not a problem to be dealt with by our security services, but rather our social services. These are our children. They are not rubbish to be discarded.
The already rampant sexual abuse of children has recently increased even further and this despicable behaviour continues in our society. While we may have sufficient legislation in place, there are very few proactive and preventative measures being adopted, especially in high-risk areas, where drug and alcohol abuse is prevalent.
This day must not become yet another opportunity for us to just reflect on our failures for only one day. We must continue in our resolve to promote the rights and dignity of all children.
This is the responsibility of our entire society and not just government's alone. Let us build a country where we live by the principle of "Your child is my child", instead of us just talking about it. I thank you. [Applause.]