Portfolio Committee on Social Development
Children’s Amendment Bill
[B19B-2006]
The Portfolio Committee on Social
Development, having considered and examined the Children’s Amendment Bill
[B19B-2006] (National Council of Provinces – sec 76(2)), referred to it, and
classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a section 76(2) Bill, reports the
Bill with amendments.
The Committee wishes to report further, as follows:
History and background of the Bill
This Bill will complete the Children’s Act, Act No 38 of 2005, by inserting
provisions relating to essential social welfare services for children.
This new law is the first comprehensive national response to the protection and
welfare of children. It is aimed at honouring our
obligations towards children under the Constitution and various international
instruments on the protection of children.
In 1997, the then Minister for Welfare and Population Development and Minister
of Justice mandated the South African Law Review Commission to investigate and
recommend a new comprehensive legislative framework for children, which has
culminated in the development of this legislation.
The composite Bill was introduced in 2003 and split into two parts as required
in terms of the Constitution. The first part, with its focus on children’s
rights and the relations between parents and children, and with other care
givers, was passed as the current Children’s Act, parts of which came into
operation on 1 July 2007.
Public consultation
Given the constitutional issues involved, the
Committee embarked on an extensive public participation process, involving
several public hearings, that included ordinary citizens from remote areas of
the country who would not normally have had access to, or an opportunity to
participate in, such hearings. Further
hearings were also conducted at Parliament in response to a request by civil
society to that effect.
Policy issues requiring further
attention:
It is recommended that the following policy issues be further investigated and
addressed by the Department of Social Development through intersectoral
collaboration with other government departments:
1. Foster care in relation to social
security
The Committee notes the phenomenal growth in the uptake of the foster‑care
grant which could affect the long‑term sustainability of this grant and
therefore requests the Department of Social Development to conduct an urgent
comprehensive review of the social security policy for children and the foster‑care
system.
It commends the department, however, for the efforts made to maximize access by
vulnerable children to this form of support. The cluster foster‑care
system being introduced in this Bill will go a long way towards improving
placement and will be a vital form of support to children.
2. Guardianship
The Committee noted during the
consideration of the Children’s Act the motivation put forward by the
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for retaining the
jurisdiction of the High Court over guardianship matters, pending the phasing
in of the family courts where the matter will ultimately reside. Noting with
concern the hardship experienced by poor people in accessing the High Court,
the Committee urges the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to
review this decision with a view to bringing the matter to the lower courts.
3. Refugee children and unaccompanied,
undocumented foreign children
While the Committee recognises that the
Children’s Act provides for all vulnerable children, including refugee children
and unaccompanied, undocumented foreign children, it urges that more work be
conducted at an intersectoral level to remove any
policy gaps.
4. Child-headed households
The Committee observes the escalating problem of child‑headed
households resulting from social challenges which has necessitated the granting
of legal recognition in this Bill.
The Committee recommends that the practical management and monitoring of child‑headed
households be further investigated, particularly their access to social
protection and adult supervision.
5. Corporal punishment
The Committee excised clause 139, dealing with the discipline of children,
from the Bill in recognition of the need for further investigation of the
matter and anticipates this matter being finalised in
a proposed amendment bill to be introduced in 2008.
The Committee however, wishes to emphasise that the
existing law regulating inappropriate forms of discipline of children remains
in place and urges that the programmes envisaged in
this Bill aimed at promoting positive parenting skills be implemented by the
Department of Social Development.
The Committee is of the view that this matter should have been tagged as a
section 75 matter by the Joint Tagging Mechanism when the comprehensive
Children’s Bill was introduced in 2003.
6. Street children
The Committee has endorsed in this Bill a policy shift from providing
shelters for street children to providing them with a comprehensive response
while recognising that they are children in need of
care and protection in child‑care and youth‑care centres.
The Committee calls on the Department of Social Development to ensure that a
comprehensive intersectoral response to the needs of
these children is developed.
Intersectoral collaboration
The Committee recommends that the Interdepartmental Steering Committee on the
Children’s Act, in consultation with the Department of Social Development,
provinces and other government departments, should report regularly to a higher
level of governance, for example to the Forum of South African
Directors-General (Fosad), with regard to the development
of tools such as implementation plans, profiles of services to children,
regulations, norms and standards, practice guidelines and implementation
strategies, as required by the Bill.
Communication strategy
The Committee strongly recommends that the Department of Social Development
should embark on an integrated and comprehensive communication strategy to
communicate the intentions of this legislation and to educate the public in
order to instil in society the ethos and values
promoted by the Children’s Act.
Children are a collective responsibility within government and it is important
that this strategy be implemented on a continuous basis in an intersectoral manner.
Adv. T M Masutha, MP
Chairperson: Portfolio Committee on Social Development
24 October 2007
Report to be considered.