Day of African Child to highlight harmful cultural and religious practices that violate children’s rights
As South Africa joins the African Union Members States in celebration of the 29th anniversary of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), the Department of Social Development will conduct a community outreach programme in Lusikisiki, Province of the Eastern Cape to highlight harmful cultural and religious practices that violate children’s rights and impact on their well-being.
The ACRWC is the only regional instrument on the protection and promotion of the rights of children and encompasses a wide array of rights and obligations for the better advancement of children’s rights in the African continent. As a signatory of the ARCWC, South Africa is required to report to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), which monitors each signatory’s implementation of the Charter.
The outreach programme in Lusikisiki is linked to the Department’s 365 Plan of Action to mobilise communities for active participation and create awareness on child rights, child protection, prevention of child abuse, neglect and exploitation. Under the theme: Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First, the programme is educational by nature and seeks to educate communities on harmful cultural practices, including early child marriages (ukuthwala) and illegal circumcision that violate the right to health, life and dignity of children, particularly in some rural areas of South Africa where such practices remain persistent.
The community outreach programme also coincides with the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which is the first international instrument that recognises children as their own beings and as rights holders who should be protected against all forms of violence and discrimination wherever they live, regardless of their ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or their social status.
One year after the dawn of democracy, South Africa was one of the first countries that ratified the UNCRC in 1995. Since then, South Africa has domesticated the UNCRC by enacting a number of progressive pieces of legislation that upholds the principle of the best interest of the child in all matters concerning children. Key amongst these is the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa which sets out the rights of the children with regard to appropriate care, basic nutrition, shelter, health care and social services.
The Children's Act governs all the laws relating to the care and protection of children. It defines the responsibilities and rights of parents/caregivers and makes provision for the establishment of Children’s Courts and the appointment of welfare officers. It regulates the establishment of places of safety, orphanages and the rights of orphans and sets out the laws for their adoption. It also provides for the contribution of certain people towards maintenance. In most cases, the guiding principle is the best interests of the child.
Despite the fact that it is illegal under the South African law, ukuthwala remains prevalent. Lusikisiki is one of the rural areas identified as ukuthwala’s hot spots in South Africa alongside illegal and unsafe circumcision, a traditional ritual of passage to manhood.
In recent years, this tradition which remains revered in many rural communities has been tainted by bogus and unscrupulous practitioners and has claimed the lives of many innocent boy-children across South Africa.
Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the Lusikisiki community outreach programme, which are scheduled as follows:
Date: Thursday, 22 August 2019
Time: 9h00-13h00
Venue: Simphiwe Frazer Mnguni Community Hall, Palmerton-Lusikisiki, Province of the Eastern Cape
Media can RSVP by contacting Ms Nomfundo Xulu-Lentsoane on 066 480 6845/e-mail: NomfundoLe@dsd.gov.za.
Media enquiries may be forwarded to:
Ms Lumka Oliphant
Cell: 083 484 8067
E-mail: LumkaO@dsd.gov.za
