Programme Director,
MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza,
City Mayor of Johannesburg, Cllr Parks Tau,
Councillors,
Representatives from Government departments,
National Religious Council - Pastor Ray McCawley, Archbishop Boetie Thagane & Rev Gift Moerane,
Pastors from Diepsloot Churches Forum,
Community Policing Forum,
Community of Diepsloot,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I greet you all.
It is indeed an honour for me to be part of these important Prayers in memory of our children here in Diepsloot, as a result of a number of atrocities that have happened in this community. Diepsloot has been in the spotlight lately due to the high incidents of child killings recently. The plight of children in this community has raised the attention of all citizens in the country to strengthen our efforts to protect the children of South Africa.
Just about a week ago we celebrated National Children’s Day. It is on this day that we reflected, reviewed, assessed the strides made since the dawn of democracy to address children’s issues and progress in advancing children’s Rights in SA.
Children representatives from different provinces met in Ugu, KwaZulu-Natal to celebrate this day under the theme: “Sireletsa Bana: Creating a caring Society”. Amongst the many issues of concern was what can be done by all citizens including children themselves to uphold the basic rights of the child to give concrete expression to the African proverb which says it takes a village to raise a child.
We are here to further raise awareness and to mobilise all sectors of society to redouble their collective efforts to promote and protect children’s rights. As government, we are mindful of the words of Nelson Mandela when he said: “We have a responsibility to create a world that is familiar with the smiles of children rather than their tears”.
In the past few weeks we have since recorded cases of children being abused and dying at the hands of their parents through poisoning, brutal assaults, brutal murders shear child neglect and also at the hands of their teachers, rapes and the involvement of professionals such as doctors ,teachers in child trafficking and child pornography syndicates.
Something, somewhere, has indeed gone wrong with the fabric of our society. Many of our children feel and receive no love and protection from the people they trust most, their parents, teachers, doctors, police, and so forth. This is the reason why as a community we have to really take a moment and reflect on ways, strategies to prevent these atrocities from continuing.
We need to strengthen the morals, values of Ubuntu in our society to win this battle. We need to further strengthen our engagement and support for parents and families in our communities to get to the root causes of the anger and violence in our homes that eventually manifests on the vulnerable, women and children.
All of us gathered here should pledge to support and work together towards the protection, promotion and fulfilment of the rights our children. We also need to emphasize responsible parenting in our families.
Charity begins at home. If as parents we can’t look after our children, by the time the government, teacher, pastor or police comes, the child would have been raped or killed. As parents we must lead by example, lead from the front to protect our children.
A baby cannot be locked alone the whole night while the parent goes drinking or leave children alone to go play cards. That is not responsible parenting. Social workers must do their jobs, remove children to places of safety if parents neglect their kids. Twenty Years into democracy, our democratic government has done a lot for our children and a lot more still to be done.
We must continue to build a South Africa where our children feel safe and secured. Our children need to access social, health, educational and recreational services.
We believe that all children, including children with disabilities should access all services in a barrier-free environment. Our department shall continue to facilitate maximum participation of children on matters that affect them and their future. We will continue to advocate for platforms to raise their views for their voice to be heard.
All children in South Africa have Rights that are enshrined in the Constitution of the Democratic South Africa; and that every right goes with a responsibility. Children also need to be taught that they do not have the right to bully other children, to abuse and assault teachers, or violate other children’s rights.
Children also need to be taught to refrain from engaging on things that damage their lives like substance abuse, smoking, drinking alcohol, and disrespecting adults. These are the values that we must inculcate in our children as a community in partnership with our government, and the religious community and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Allow me program director to announce that Cabinet has approved the reviewed National Plan of Action for Children early in the year. Collectively we need to strive towards translating this Plan into tangible action. The National Plan of Action will address key issues such as:
- Child Survival
- Child Development
- Protection and Care of the Children
- Standard of Living of the Children in South Africa
We should all as parents, community organisations, care givers, participate in platforms created to equip and train us to service our children and our communities better.
It is crucial that we invest more time, efforts and exercise more vigilance to ensure that all our children around the country are safe and protected.
In closing, I want to thank all of you for having joined us in this Prayer March. As South Africans we fought many battles including Apartheid, and HIV/AIDS. United, we will fight this battle of violence against women and children and we will win it. All it needs is more commitment and cooperation.
To the families, God will help us. Nkosi Sikeleli I Afrika.
Allow me to conclude with the Word in Ecclesiastes 4:9: Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work.
I thank you!
