ConCourt spares all children the rod
ConCourt bans smacking of kids
Smacking your child in your home or anywhere else will in future land you in jail for assault. This is after the Constitutional Court ruled that parents no longer have a defence if they are accused of assault for smacking their children. The apex court upheld an earlier ruling by the South Gauteng High Court to do away with the common-law defence of reasonable chastisement when spanking a child. Civil society group Freedom of Religion South Africa (For SA) challenged a 2017 ruling by the high court that effectively ruled it was illegal for parents to spank their children. The case has its origins in the conviction of a father for assaulting his 13-year-old son in Johannesburg. In his defence, the father argued that he was administering moderate and reasonable chastisement under common law. But the court ruled that this was unconstitutional on the grounds that it violated the child’s right to equal protection in the law, dignity, freedom from all forms of violence and bodily degradation and psychological integrity, and the child’s right not to be discriminated against based on age.
In court, the Children’s Institute, Sonke Gender Justice and Peace Centre argued that any form of violence amounts to assault, and that where an adult would have legal recourse, children did not. Peace Centre director Carol Bower said she was delighted at the decision of the court. Bower said the decision should not be interpreted as taking away parental rights but a fulfillment of a child’s right to be free from all violence, irrespective of their age.
“There is a strong direct link between violence experienced at childhood and gender-based violence experienced at adulthood. What we are seeing now with women and children being raped and murdered is the exact outcome of violence experienced at childhood. We teach children the wrong lessons when we hit them. We teach them that bigger and stronger people can hurt people who are smaller with impunity,” Bower said.
But For SA warned that “It sets a very dangerous precedent… As a result, good parents of faith who only want what is best for their children will potentially see their families torn apart as is happening in other countries where physical correction has been banned. This will destroy families as the bedrock of our society,” said Daniela Ellerbeck, attorney at For SA. African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe echoed the same sentiments. “We believe that God did not make a mistake when he instituted this form of correction for parents to apply in order to raise strong, respectful and diligent children.”
‘‘ Strong direct link between violence at childhood and at adulthood