Time to reach out to protect South Africa’s children

THIS week marks Child Protection Week. Over the last several years, South Africa has experienced a spike in the violent crimes perpetrated against young children.

While certain policies have been put in place to protect children, acts of sexual assault against them, as well as a high rate in their murders, have gone unabated. Many of them have senselessly lost their lives by being neglected by their parents, immediate caregivers and guardians. The communities they live in have also turned a blind eye to the scourge against them.

There is an adage which states that it takes a village to raise a child but in essence, in this country we continue to fail our children, from the Cape Flats and in the shanty parts of Diepsloot in Johannesburg right up to the deep rural areas across KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, among many areas.

We seemingly fail to report any crimes perpetrated against children by those close to us and those who live with and around us.

It is incumbent on parents, communities and the government to ensure that children’s rights are protected, as enshrined in the Constitution. It is essential that their learning environment is well taken care of so that they don’t easily contract the coronavirus.

Organisations such as Families South Africa (Famsa) have already committed themselves to raising awareness around the rights of children in this era where physical distancing is vital and large public gatherings are prohibited. They have launched a campaign with the theme “Go Green For Child Protection” and are encouraging people to paint their hands green, and post pictures on social media.

In the past, events would have been held where various stakeholders would have gathered to hold round-table discussions.

But it seems that the emergence of Covid-19 presents us with the challenge of being innovative this time around on how we deal with matters concerning children.

It is time that we act immediately in any event that we find a child who is a family friend, a neighbour or our own immediate children who are being molested, victimised, neglected or battered and bruised and assist them.

Every one of us has to reach out and help. In doing this we are protecting the future generation so that they too can protect generations to come.