Programme director,
Minister of Correctional Services, Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula,
Management of the Pollsmoor Correctional Centre,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen
We meet here at this correctional facility, the Pollsmoor Correctional Centre, at the crucial time of commemorating the Child Protection Week.
The spirit of care that accompanies us today in respect of children must continue to characterise our work and our daily lives beyond this week.
However, we will utilise this week to inspire the daily lives of all South Africans around issues of child protection. We remind ourselves that creating a safer and caring environment for children is not only the responsibility of their biological parents, but of all members of society.
Fortunately, we have a rich and humane heritage both as Africans and South Africans that teaches us that: my child is your child, and your child is my child!
We also have a rich history of social mobilisation for the good of society, through which we have fought and won many battles in the history of our country, which we can continue to advance against social ills such as child abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Today, we seek to highlight that all children must enjoy their rights, regardless of their location. I am therefore pleased to expand of this matter through our theme for today, which is: “Working Together to Protect and Promote the Rights of Children in Correctional Facilities”.
The sad reality that we contend with is that there are children who find themselves in correctional centres, not by choice, but by circumstances. They are there because their mothers are serving sentence or are awaiting trial detainees.
The mothers get an opportunity to feed and play with the children. This is because we all know that every mother naturally wants to bond with their children, see them grow, protect them, show them love, and care for them.
However, the truth is that the correctional environment is not and has never been conducive for child development because the purpose of such facilities is inconsistent with the objectives of child development.
Studies have shown that facilities catering for infants and young children who stay with their incarcerated mothers remain in a restrictive environment that impedes the children’s cognitive, psychological and social development.
In addition, research has also revealed that children admitted to correctional facilities in the their first two years of life, who are not adopted until after the age of four, are likely to struggle forming close relationships and in making friends.
It is for this reason that we applaud the Imbeleko Project by the Department of Correctional Services, which focuses on creating a humane, secure and friendly environment for the mother and child in correctional facilities.
Through this initiative, the department continues to create a conducive environment for mothers to interact with their children in the centres. I know that there are areas where existing cells have been converted into mother and child units specifically for this purpose.
This, in our view, is a good measure to allow mothers to bond with their children with an understanding that these children should leave these centres when they are aged two.
These rights of these children are protected in terms of the Children’s Act, which enjoins us to ensure the harmonious development of children, while recognising the need for children to grow up in an environment of happiness, love and understanding.
Moreover, South Africa subscribes to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNCRC) which reaffirms that children need special care especially those who are in vulnerable circumstances – they need protection from physical and emotional abuse.
In terms of the Children’s Act, we must ensure that all children live and grow in a nurturing, secure and stable environment.
The following are the principles of this Act:
- Respecting, protecting, promoting and fulfilling the child’s rights set out in the Bill of Rights
- Recognising a child’s need for development and to engage in play and other recreational activities appropriate to the child’s age
- Recognising a child’s disability and create an enabling environment to respond to the special needs that the child has and
- Knowing and understanding that the best interest of the child is always paramount.
It is for this reason that alternative placement for children in correctional centres has to be sought when they reach two years of age, with the consent of their mothers. In this instance, what is paramount is the best interest of the child.
It is therefore important for families and relatives of these children to come on board to adopt or foster these children. Government as the facilitator of this process will always ensure that the children will not be exposed to any form of abuse in the hands of those entrusted with their care.
Rather, these children should be part of the broader society and especially benefit from the services that government provides for them.
These include the Early Childhood Development (ECD) services, through which we seek to invest in the in the education of children at an early stage of their lives. Research has already shown that young children with exposure to an education environment that mould their social, cognitive and emotional skills – have a chance of becoming better citizens later in life.
We therefore want children who leave correctional centres to find their feet in ECD centres anywhere in the country.
Programme director,
As the Department of Social Development, a significant component of our services to protect children vests in our social assistance programme. The Child Support Grant (CSG) reaches about to 10,4 million children. In 2010/11, more than 5,5 million caregivers received a grant on behalf of these children.
The positive impact of this programme on the lives of poor children and their families was recently further underscored by a study done by UNICEF and the Finance and Fiscal Commission (FFC). The study illustrated the effectiveness of the CSG protected poor children and their families at the height of the economic and financial crisis. The study indicated the extent to which the CSG served to drive down child poverty figures and also reduced the number of children experiencing hunger.
As part of our social protection programme, our policies provide for the foster child grant which is aimed at children who are in need of care. At the end of the last financial year, we provided foster care benefits to over five hundred and twelve thousand children. We really need all qualifying children to access these services. I am confident that the Imbeleko Initiative will help refer the needy children to our programmes.
Indeed, working together we can do more to protect our children.
I thank you.
Source: Department of Social Development
