Programme Director,
MECs present here,
Your Majesty Kgoshigadi Mothapo,
His Excellency Executive Mayor: Cllr Lawrence Mapoulo,
His Excellency Executive Mayor: Cllr Freddy Greaver,
All councillors present,
Director of Childline Limpopo,
School principals present,
Learners,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Distinguished guests.
Good day everyone,
Opening the first democratic Parliament in 1994, former President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela had this to say and I quote:..."And so we must, constraint by and yet regardless of the accumulated effect of our historical burdens, seize the time to define for ourselves what we want to make our shared destiny and in this glorious vision, our endeavours must be about the liberation of the woman, the emancipation of the man and the liberty of the child".
With those words, our former President defined what must constitute the building blocks of our collective goals as a nation. The 1994 democratic breakthrough marked a decisive milestone in the creation of a society based on the principles of equality, justice, human dignity and non-sexism.
Our quest for violence free world is gaining momentum, but it is only through multi-sectoral approach towards fighting gender based violence that this dream can be realised hence this collaborative efforts with Childline and sector departments .The post-Apartheid ANC led government has always prioritised children's rights and wellbeing as part of our overall development plan.
Our first President, Nelson Mandela, once said, and I quote: "There is no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way it treats its children". Therefore, to give a concrete expression to this vision, the ANC led government signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as one of the first International and Regional Instruments it ratified in 1995.
Undoubtedly the South African government under the leadership of President J.G.Zuma has made a remarkable progress by establishing the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities to ensure that the rights of our future leaders are safeguarded.
Notwithstanding some gruesome incidents of heinous abuse of children, it is noteworthy to mention that since this government came into power, there have been considerable improvements in the lives of vulnerable children in general, access to their rights, access to services and benefits and a reduction in their poverty levels and inequality. These achievements were brought about by the numerous progressive legislations and social and economic policies introduced by the ANC led government since 1994.
Admittedly the scourge of violence against children remain a major challenge, we must continuously co-ordinate through numerous advocacy campaigns and further work towards fighting violence against children as articulated in the programmes of National Council Against Gender Based Violence.
With regard to furthering the inclusion of children’s voices in matters that affects them, we are collaborating with the Department of Social Development, Department of Education, Department of Safety, Security and Liaison and our traditional leaders to provide for children a platform to report on cases of abuses. Therefore, it is evident that there remain both major challenges and opportunities to unite around a vision of our first President for all children when he said and I quote:
"Our children are the rock on which our future will be build, our greatest asset as a nation. They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our wealth, those who care for and protect our people; therefore as a nation we must invest more in our children".
I take this opportunity to salute the leadership demonstrated by the three principals from the following schools i.e. Ntji Mothapo Primary School, Gerson Ntjie Secondary Schools and Madipuwane Secondary school for all their concerted efforts in advancing the agenda of a violence free world.
Our clarion call to all and sundry is to emulate this exemplary leadership and their selflessness in proactively raising an alarm when the lives of our future leaders, our children, are in danger. They chose not to look away thinking it is not my child and in that they gave resonance to the famous African adage that it takes the whole village to raise a child.
Without a doubt, violence against children is a violation of human right. We must be steadfast and resolute as society to heighten and increase awareness and what is called restraint because humiliation of our children is quite prevalent.
We must never see children as objects but as human beings with full rights as enshrined in the Constitution. As we highlight the scourge of violence against children and to mobilise us to move from word to action, I want to indicate that the statistics of abuse in this area are startling.
Rape of children as young as three years of age is rampant in this community with other children being victims of assault. These findings should serve as a mobilising ammunition in fighting this scourge. Particularly devastating is that a huge percentage of those who maltreat children are parents and relatives of these children.
Programme Director,
This kind of violence can be far-reaching. It can impact adversely on many areas of our children’s lives, from their ability to learn to their likelihood to take part in risky behaviours. This may include inadequate education, teenage pregnancy, alcohol and substance abuse. This cycle may grow and the lives of every member of the family may be affected. That is why we always call on parents to be good role models to children and never expose their children to alcohol and substance abuse.
Children must know right from home that it is possible to have fun without alcohol. We must not be weary of reminding all liquor outlets including taverns and shebeens to comply with the laws governing their operations. They must know that they must not sell liquor to under-age children and pregnant women.
It is in this light that we must send a strong message that abuse in whatever form is intolerable and a serious development issue that undermines the efforts to build a society that is safe, equal and prosperous. It also defeats the nation building efforts of promoting social cohesion.
This is an important occasion and we must use it today and beyond to raise awareness of the negative impact of violence of whatever kind on children and society as a whole. You will agree with me that every year, thousands of families welcome a new child into their homes.
What is sad is that most of these children, born in an era of democracy, suffer through things that we could not even imagine. This is not what the ANC led government is all about and fought for. The ANC led government has since 1994 placed progressive legislations to redress the wrongs affecting children.
The Maintenance Act was passed to ensure that maintenance for the child is recovered from the parents or other persons financially responsible for the child. Domestic Violence Act was also enacted to afford survivors of violence maximum protection from domestic abuse.
Children’s Act, 2005 and Children’s Amendment Act, 2007 were as well enacted to amongst others, protect a child from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation. We also have Child Protection Week, International Children’s Day and the Day of the African Child which are observed every year as part of putting more emphasis on the welfare of our children. We cannot afford as Government to look away as our defenceless children get to be violated every day. Ours is a caring Government.
So anyone who says to you that Government under the leadership of the ANC is not serious about the plight of its children is simply taking refuge in ignorance. This very Government updated the Children Rights Charter to also cover and include emerging modern challenges such as use of our children as subjects of pornography and children’s exposure to pornographic material.
Programme director, today we have an opportunity to reflect as we confront head on the scourge of child abuse. All of us here, from so many different walks of life, have to do all we can to raise public awareness, involve community leaders, government agencies and private sector to provide programs for toddlers and teenagers alike to address this problem.
Our Community Development Workers are also perfectly placed to pick up issues of children abuse and we make an impassioned plea to them to alert relevant authorities for prompt intervention before the situation is beyond control.
Programmes for children that will keep our children out of mischief must be a priority at our municipalities and special programmes managers must be held accountable if they do not deliver on this. It is crucial and can go a long way if we make time to listen and help our children before they resort to unbecoming means that will only worsen situations. Abuse can be stopped when children get speedy assistance.
This must be done because the health and well-being of our nation’s children is something each of us here today cares about deeply. We have to surely change the old pattern before it is too late because too many children are not being put first as they are being left behind.
As the Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, we have since 1994 been ensuring that we live up to what is contained in the Freedom Charter that "There shall be Houses, Security and Comfort".
The ANC and its allies knew in 1955 that our people, including our children should be decently housed and that children should be brought up in families where there is comfort and security. The ANC led government knew it then that not giving a child a basic need like shelter will be abuse of the worst kind to a child. This tenet as enshrined in our Freedom Charter has been our rallying cry and will remain so as we deliver sustainable and integrated human settlements for our people and the citizens of Limpopo.
Our Cooperative governance, with the support of our municipalities and traditional authorities, has been the pinnacle of our integrated approach to delivering housing to our children in this community. When the ANC was given an overwhelming mandate in 1994 to lead, government prioritised providing shelter to the poorest of the poor.
We have since 1994 in the Capricorn District Municipality ensured that 24 167 families have a place they can with pride call home. In the Polokwane local municipality, a municipality for the community of Ga-Mathapo, we have since 1994 built 22 363 houses for our people.
The dignity of many people of Ga- Mothapo was restored immensely as over 960 families received houses in the last 19 years. This is a clear commitment the Government of the ANC has to its people and a commitment that will never diminish. It shows that the ANC leads and lives among its people. We remain a government of the people by the people and most importantly a caring government.
Programme director, we can reverse this rising crimes against our children and break the cycle of violence. Community-based, collaborative efforts have proven to be the key to reaching out to those at risks and preventing abuse and neglect. If we continue to work with each of you, we can take responsibility for ourselves and our families, and we can keep the abuse rate of children going down, block by block, village by village, school by school, town by town, district by district, all across Limpopo and the country.
We call on the police and prosecutors to put a great deal of effort into improving the way they investigate and prosecute offences, particularly those involving children. Like I emphasised earlier, this is not the responsibility of courts and law enforcement agencies. They can only do so much. Society at large should heed the call that child abuse is not fashionable.
It is not cool. Child abuse and substance abuse divert young people from what ideally should be fashionable things for young people: going to school and becoming law-abiding citizens. Society should cleanse itself of child abuse. Families, schools, churches, burial societies, sporting teams, youth clubs and the media should spread the message against child abuse.
As I conclude, we must teach our children that they are valued, and in turn, teach them to value others. And we must turn our national consensus on child abuse prevention into a national conscience that lets everyone know that our children are our most precious resources and that we all have a stake in caring for them.
We know that it takes more than good government; it takes good people on the streets working every day to make a change. It takes dedication, commitment and hard day-to-day work of people like all of you here to reach out to help those who are least able to help themselves.
Let us commit ourselves to building a violence-free and a rights based society. Let us work together to break this chain of pervasive violence. We can build a better and safer society for all of us, especially for our children. It is our responsibility as government and society as a whole to unite in action to uphold the rights of children.
While we celebrate the success of laws passed to improve the conditions of our children, we must be the first ones to accept that a lot of needs to be done. Our thanks goes to Childline, sector departments, Ba-Moshate wa Molepo le sechaba, school principals and other stakeholders that demonstrated that together we can turn hope into reality as we are now armed with the shared commitment to make dreams become a reality through this partnership.
I thank you all!
