SA’s child protection system is in crisis

World Vision calls spate of killings a national disaster

AS THE Western Cape government grapples with how to deal with the spate of child killings in the province, World Vision has called for it to be declared a national disaster. The organisation said South Africa’s child protection system is in a crisis. Paula Barnard, national director of World Vision, said there is a lack of intersectoral collaboration between social services and the police.

“South African child protection requires a multi-agency response that enables government and civil society organisations to work together to identify families that show signs of abuse and to respond to it immediately. The system is not protecting families in crisis which in turn means cases aren’t reported. It’s a vicious cycle of abuse and violence. Lack of social welfare support and interdepartmental co-operation mean that victims have nowhere to turn as their cases often fall through the cracks,” Barnard said.

NGOs are calling for an end to talk shops and want action on child killings in the Western Cape. Lorenzo Davids, chief executive of Community Chest, said it recently had a meeting with religious leaders in Mitchells Plain.

“We want to move beyond rhetoric and several things were proposed at the meeting,” Davids said. “These include free early childhood centres at churches. These need to be advanced and this will increase child protection. So will advocating from pulpits for safer communities and sharing relevant information from those platforms, building multi-stakeholder, civil coalitions to broaden co-operation for the sake of safer communities. And no longer claiming to not hear, not see and therefore not do. These things were generally accepted and Community Chest will provide a methodology on how to achieve this,” he said.

Valdi van Reenen-le Roux, director of the Trauma Centre, said she agrees there are not enough services which protect children. “There are not enough counsellors and social workers and that is why not a lot of children have access to these crucial services. We have submitted a petition to Western Cape government’s petition committee because we want a commission of inquiry into the child killings,” she said.

Joanie Fredericks, from the Mitchells Plain Crisis Forum, said their organisation will be hosting a “White Thursday” “in remembrance of all the women and children” killed in the Western Cape.