All children must be allowed a caring, nurturing childhood

Dear Fellow South African, 

On Saturday we observed National Children’s Day, when we take stock of the progress we have made in advancing the rights of South Africa’s children. 

We celebrate this day on the first Saturday of November, which is the month in which the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations in 1989. The Convention was the first international treaty ratified by our newly democratic government in 1994 in recognition of the centrality of children’s rights to our national development. 

The Convention requires all countries to advance the social, economic, political and cultural rights of children. The Convention asserts that every child has a right to:

• Survival
• Development
• Protection
• Participation
• Identity
• Health
• Education
• Non-discrimination
• Privacy
• Freedom of Expression

The adoption of the Convention by the democratic South Africa was a critical step towards addressing the legacy of our past. Colonialism and apartheid ruined the prospects of millions of black children, who were the youngest victims of deprivation, discrimination and exclusion. By the end of apartheid, the mortality rate for black children was six times higher than that of white children. These disparities reflected everywhere else, from living conditions and access to basic services, to access to social care and services, to education. 

Since 1994 we have registered considerable gains in giving effect to the provisions of the Convention, which are mirrored in our Constitution. Successive democratic administrations have established laws and policies to develop the potential of South Africa’s children. 

To ensure children’s right to survival we have implemented free primary health care for children under six, free basic services to poor families and child support grants. 

The school nutrition programme has made a significant difference in improving the educational and health outcomes for millions of children from indigent families. 

To advance the right of children to protection from abuse, neglect and exploitation, we have passed laws outlawing child labour, corporal punishment and child marriages. 

We have a prescribed minimum sentencing regime for cases involving the sexual abuse of children. During the sixth democratic administration, we strengthened the legal regime to expand the definition of sexual offences against children, improve our capacity to combat child trafficking, and introduce more stringent conditions for the registration of sex offenders. 

One of the areas in which we have made the most progress in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is in the right to education. 

As the UN Children’s Fund has noted: “Since 1994 South Africa has made great strides in realising the right to education, rapidly building an efficient, accessible and quality education system for children and adolescents.” 

At the advent of democracy, only half of all six-year-olds went to school. Now there is almost universal school enrolment for learners from 6 to 15 years. The number of no-fee schools has grown significantly. Three out of four learners are exempted from paying fees.

As much as we have made progress, we are keenly aware that much more needs to be done to give effect to the rights of our nation’s youngest citizens, and to protect them from abuse. 

We have seen a number of recent criminal cases of children being trafficked into the sex trade, raped, murdered and subjected to the worst forms of abuse – often by those closest to them. 

Such tragedies are a stark reminder that progressive legislation must be matched by social and other forms of support. These efforts must capacitate caregivers and offer greater protection to vulnerable children in particular. 

We have seen how poverty and under-development deprive children of their childhoods. We have seen how many children are forced to leave school and find work because their families have no money. The ongoing abuse of children – whether physical, sexual or emotional – is among the worst forms of deprivation. It is a stain on the nation’s conscience. 

As we mark National Children’s Day, we must therefore strengthen our collective resolve to ensure that every child has a safe, caring and nurturing childhood. 

Working together we can continue to build a better world for our nation’s children.