on corporal punishment
11 October 2007
SA Human Rights Commission supports proposed amendments to Children's Act
which will outlaw corporal punishment and promote appropriate discipline in the
home.
The South African Human Rights Commission wishes to reconfirm its support of
the Children's Act Amendment Bill that is before the Portfolio Committee on
Social Development in the National Assembly of Parliament.
The commission reiterates that since 1994, South Africa has systematically,
through legislation and the development of our case law, prohibited all forms
of corporal punishment in public life. In South Africa currently, the only
place where corporal punishment is permissible is in the home.
In the past year there have been a number of significant international
developments that further endorse the position of the Commission on this issue.
During 2006, the United Nations Global Study on Violence against Children as
well as the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Childs', General
Comment No.8, unequivocally called for the prohibition of corporal
punishment.
The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child places a duty
upon state parties to ensure that domestic discipline is administered in a
manner that is consistent with the inherent dignity of the child. Thus, to
argue that the practice of corporal punishment is in line with the cultural
manner of raising children would be contrary to the instruction and spirit of
the Charter.
The Commission welcomes clause 139 of the Children's Act Amendment Bill
(B19B â 2006) because it seeks to advance a society in which children are free
to develop in an atmosphere that promotes a culture of non-violence.
The Commission also commends the Portfolio Committee for its efforts to
uphold the rights of all children to dignity, equality, and freedom and
security of the person by ensuring that corporal punishment is prohibited, that
the defence of reasonable chastisement is abolished; and, the State will
support parents through programmes on appropriate discipline and education and
awareness raising about the benefits of raising children in environments free
from all forms of violence.
Our Constitution protects everyone's equality, inherent human dignity and
states that everyone shall be free from all violence and not be treated or
punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading manner. In South Africa, children are
afforded protection like all citizens but beyond that children occupy a special
space because of their vulnerability.
Enquiries:
Mr Jody Kollapen
Commission Chairperson
Cell: 083 265 3611
Issued by: South African Human Rights Commission
11 October 2007
Source: South African Human Rights Commission (http://www.sahrc.org.za/)
