(1)Whether the Minister has been informed of the fact that delays in the issuing of approval of applications made in terms of Article 17 of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, 1993, by the SA Central Authority is delaying adoption of adoptable children into screened and approved intercountry adoptive families, leaving children in institutionalised care for many months longer than necessary, thereby depriving children of their constitutional right to family care and compromising their well-being and development;
(2) whether she is aware that most intercountry placements are of children with disabilities or special needs;
(3) whether she has been informed that in the specific case of one 6-year old child with disabilities the refusal by her department to issue Article 17 approval has meant that the child was kept unnecessarily in institutionalised care for over three years since the court terminated the rights of the biological parents to consent to the adoption; if so, what are the relevant details;
(4) whether her department’s refusal to accept orders made by a court regarding adoptability and termination of the rights of biological parents, or consents properly given in court by biological parents will be investigated and urgently corrected and those responsible for delays held accountable?