Calls grow to protect children
ALTHOUGH it is clear that there is an urgent need for a children’s commissioner, a key challenge is to overcome the lack of political will.
This is according to research by University of Cape Town honours students into the establishment of a children’s commissioner. It comes after another call by civil society to appoint a children’s commissioner and establish a commission of inquiry into the killing of children in the Western Cape. Since the beginning of the year 25 children have been killed in the province.
Jessica Blom from the Centre for Early Childhood Development, who attended a workshop about the child killings, said recent research suggests there are five key roles a children’s commissioner could play.
“The central role involves safeguarding and promoting children’s interests through promoting their rights and welfare,” she said.
“The second is reviewing and monitoring the operation of complaints procedures, which includes examining the operations and arrangements for resolving complaints in order to establish whether or not they are effective in protecting and promoting children’s rights and welfare.”
WHAT WE FOUND IS THAT ALL THE CHILDREN MURDERED WERE GROOMED BY THE PERPETRATORS
Valdi van Reenen-le Roux from the Child Protection Collaborative and director of the Trauma Centre, said solutions were needed to address the killing of children.
“What we have found is that all the children who were murdered were groomed by the perpetrators,” she said. “A deeper interrogation is needed to find solutions. Why is this not given a priority? Another thing which needs to be looked into is why there is no gang strategy any more in the Western Cape.”
Seeham Samaai from the Women’s Legal Centre said that a children’s commissioner was “long overdue – we need local, provincial and national governments to work together in this regard”.
Faiz Jacobs provincial secretary of the ANC, said that the aim of the meeting was to develop a comprehensive child protection strategy.
“The killing of children has become like a new normal. It is the sign of a society that is very ill. That is why we have been calling for a children’s commissioner, which is a constitutional responsibility.
“We are proposing street and community watches, where people start taking responsibility for each other’s children.”