ATC130315: Report of Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities on Consideration of South Africa’s Second, Third and Fourth Periodic State Party Report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child for the Period 1998 to September 2012, dated 14 March 2013

REPORT OF PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON WOMEN, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ON CONSIDERATION OF SOUTH AFRICA ’S SECOND, THIRD AND FOURTH PERIODIC STATE PARTY REPORT TO THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD FOR THE PERIOD 1998 TO SEPTEMBER 2012, DATED 14 MARCH 2013

The Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities, having considered the 2 ^nd , 3 ^rd and 4 ^th Periodic State Party Report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child for the period 1998 to September 2012, reports as follows:

1. Introduction

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child country report was formally referred to the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities on 26 February 2013 as well as the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, Portfolio Committee on Social Development, Portfolio Committee on Health, Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, Portfolio Committee on Basic Education and Portfolio Committee on Labour. However, given the time stringent deadlines conferral with all relevant Committees was not feasible.

The Portfolio Committee for Women, Children and People with Disabilities in fulfilling its mandate is responsible for ensuring compliance with international and regional treaties that has a bearing on women, children and persons with disabilities. In addition, the Committee is also tasked with the responsibility to create opportunities for public participation with civil society on key matters pertaining to the Committee’s target groups.

To this end, the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities has scheduled a meeting for this Wednesday 6 March 2013 at Parliament on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Country Report for presentations by civil society. The Committee deems it important to gain the perspectives of civil society on this crucial matter. Moreover, the Committee also engaged with the Department Women, Children and People with Disabilities; Justice and Constitutional Development; Social Development; Health; Home Affairs; Basic Education and Labour on 13 March 2013 in this regard.

2. Background

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 44/25 on 20 November 1989 and was entered into force on 2 September 1990, in accordance with Article 49. It was one treaty that was acceded to rapidly by most countries across the world. The preamble of the Convention sets out civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children.

This Convention also has 3 optional protocols that have subsequently been adopted by the General Assembly which are only applicable to States who signed and ratified the CRC. South Africa signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993 and ratified in 1995. The initial country report was submitted in 1999 and the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities is aware of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities’ process for obtaining input from civil society on the country report (by 22 March 2013) and submitting it to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child by 15 July 2013.

3. Findings

3.1 Civil society engagement

The Committee was briefed by the Children’s Institute of the University of Cape Town; Professor Anne Skelton from the Centre for Child Law , Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria and Child Welfare South Africa on 6 March 2013 as a means of obtaining some perspective of civil society on the country report. To this end, several issues emerged from the briefing highlighting both achievements and challenges alongside recommendations. These issues have been categorised below in general and content specific matters.

3.1.1 General

Structure of report

· The report was considered to be a well written, comprehensive piece of work however certain sections lacked adequate detail as would be required by the UN Committee.

Content

· The Executive and Parliament to be commended for all the achievements cited in the report. To this end, it was imperative to highlight these achievements as evidence of good practice in the report as well.

· The role of civil society is visible and is acknowledged at the start of the report however service delivery by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) needs more recognition.

· In terms of the National Plan of Action for Children (NPAC), whilst the concept is commendable, it was noted that there was limited collaboration with civil society partners and the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities. Moreover poor service delivery by the state welfare services has diluted its impact and this remains a concern.

· The structure and composition of provincial steering committees responsible for provincial plans of action are of concern since many NGOs who are key stakeholders do not have specific key roles and the capacity of those appointed to these committees was questioned.

Statistics

· The statistics presented in the appendices are inconsistent in terms of years of representation.

· Duplicate statistical data is regularly collated yet little to no feedback is provide on the collation of same and little communication appears to exist between the different sectors within the local Department of Social Development offices.

Budget

· The budgets reflected in the report were to some extent misleading as the allocation were not solely for the delivery or programmes and services for children.

· A major concern was the poor funding of the NGO sector that bears the responsibility for rendering the majority of child protection services (CPS) across the country.

Service delivery

· Poor or no policy implementation was considered to be problematic in addition to the lack of resources available for children’s service delivery.

3.1.2 Part 1: General measures of implementation

• Paragraph 41 of the report only refers to Section 28 of the Constitution of South Africa is terms of children’s rights however all rights in the Bill of Rights apply to children.

3.1.3 Part 2: Definition of the Child

· The evolving capacity of children was highlighted as one of the reasons why various ages are stipulated in law to permit children to take certain decisions. However, the contradictions in the law in terms of age of consent were acknowledged as a matter that impacts professionals rendering services to children. In addition, health care professionals were also concerned about conflict between the ethical duties to respond versus litigation for not acting accordingly.

· The age of marriage as noted in par 48 was considered to be low and discriminatory in terms of the girl versus the boy child. Moreover, mere compliance was deemed not to be enough.

3.1.4 Part 3: General principles

Right to life, survival and development

· The report notes infanticide but the issue is not engaged with as noted within the Medical Research Council’s Child Homicide Study (Mathews et al 2012) that established an excessively high rate - 17 9/100 000 for girls and 14 4/100 000 for boys under 1 year. The study revealed that most killings occur in the 1 ^st week post birth.

3.1.5 Part 4: Civil rights and freedoms

Birth registration, name and nationality

· Key concerns pertained to the processing of late birth registrations, duplicate issuing of ID numbers; repeated losses of submitted documentation and specifically protracted lengthy procedures in dealing with the registration of births of orphans, abandoned children and adopted children. All of which require urgent attention.

· Although the Children’s Act (No. 38 of 2005) assigns parental rights and responsibilities to unmarried fathers, in practise grave difficulties are encountered by these fathers – an example of this being the attempts at registering the births of their children. This compromises the rights of these children and is an issue that requires attention.

Right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment including corporal punishment

· Even though the report acknowledges that corporal punishment has been abolished schools, the figures set out in table 21 p 96 was an area of major concern. However, the report is silent on the seriousness of this matter no indicates what if any plan is in place to address the issue .

Measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of child victims

· There appeared to be overall lack of services aimed at psychological recovery of child victims on the side of Government.

3.1.6 Part 5: Family environment and alternative care

Family environment and parental guidance

· Efforts to focus and family preservation and the strengthening of families have been attempted by incorporation of this within the Children’s Act (No. 38 of 2005) and a number of specific programmes including those run by the child welfare sector have been successfully implemented. These however are limited and focussed in specific areas and dependent upon donor funding for their continuation.

Parents’ common responsibilities

· Chapter 3 of the said Children’s Act addresses the issue of parental rights and responsibilities but to date has found limited application. It is submitted that courts and social workers need more training on the application and merits of this section if it is to have any positive impact on services to children.

· Greater emphasis needs to be placed on responsible parenting particularly in view of the high incidence of gender based violence (GBV) in South Africa and issues such as gender stereotyping.

Family reunification

· Whilst the national norms and standards for child protection in relation to family reunification are noble the requirements are compromised through lack of funding for service providers.

Adoption – national and inter-country

· Adoptions are taking protracted periods time to be finalised due to (a) Lack of understanding of the Children’s Act by some Government officials tasked with overseeing the adoption process; (b) Delays in reviewing applications and (c) Delays in processing applications for clearance in terms of the National Child Protection Register.

· Thus a major concern was the lack of suitably trained officials within Department of Social Development at regional and local offices who compromise and protract the process without any basis for this in law.

Abuse and neglect including physical and psychological recovery

· This section is silent on victims of violence and focuses predominantly on child offenders.

· It is framed more in terms of the responsibility to protect child offenders from further harm as oppose to focussing on child victims as well.

· The section also lacks a response in terms of dealing with the challenge of psychological recovery for child victims of abuse – such as counselling and therapy at Thuthuzela’s and NGO’s (i.e. Childline ).

The following were specific challenges noted that related to the implementation of Article 39:

· Thuthuzela one stop centres focus mostly on a physical health and a criminal justice response which is a limited response to child victims who also require psycho-social services.

· Specialised counselling services for children are limited and mainly located in well resourced urban settings.

· Child focused services are overburdened with long waiting periods

· Lack of accessible services for children impacts on psychological healing and recovery.

· The implementation of Article 39 needs to take into account the cycle of violence and the need to break this.

· South Africa faces huge challenges with the magnitude of violence and requires an action plan to implement article 39

3.1.7 Part 6: Disability, basic health and welfare

Children with disabilities

• Mental health is not just intellectual disability see paragraphs 77 and 78 on p 27 and as such the section should provide a broader reflection in this regard.

Reproductive health care

· Policies on Termination of Pregnancy and abortion services are not sufficient.

· Awareness on the availability of reproductive health services including abortion services.

Social security

· Budget Review 2013 mentions the Department of Social Development is exploring ways to improve income support for orphaned children who live with their relatives (page 85) this should be taken into account.

· During November 2012, the Department of Social Development held a consultative meeting on a proposed reform that would provide a LARGER (in amount) child support grant to relatives caring for orphans (“Extended CSG”). Children’s rights groups welcomed the proposal. It will ensure orphans get their grants faster and will also free up social workers and court time to provide better protection services to children who had been abused.

· The report should reflect an acknowledgment of the challenges in reaching all orphans in poverty and report that the Department of Social Development is in the process of reforming the social assistance system to ensure that orphans receive adequate social assistance timeously. (The Directorate on Social Security within DSD can provide more information).

· The administrative burden on courts and social workers due to the increase in foster care placements remains a concern not only in relation to the financial burden it places on the State and limitations on its sustainability BUT the resultant high number of lapsed orders. The report refers to a moratorium on future lapsing and the court calling for the reinstatement of all foster care grants and orders lapsed since April 2009 – in reality this is not happening in many regions.

Childcare services and facilities

· The State has and continues to fail to provide adequate child care facilities and more effort is required in this regard as many children are left unattended in communities and are therefore considered to be vulnerable and at risk.

· Foster-care and Child and Youth Care Centre (CYCC) orders and grants/subsidies have been lapsing and children’s security and placement resultantly compromised.

· It is known that Form 39s have not been issued by at least one local State Welfare Department due to inefficiencies (a requirement by Court when a Form 36 – emergency order – is issued and placement is being made in temporary safe care (As a result the court, being aware of the problem, requested the NGO concerned to do an affidavit so that the court could over-ride this requirement).

· The Department of Social Development has given insufficient attention to the lack of adequate alternative care facilities for children particularly in respect of special needs children. Most facilities are managed by NGOs with subsidies from the Department of Social Development (efforts in some provinces to address this growing problem date back 10yrs and have not been adequately addressed).

· In the last country report, the UN Committee expressed its concern (concluding observation 250) regarding insufficient care facilities for previously disadvantaged groups. Whilst Government research indicates available bed facilities, the distribution and availability of such in the provinces in most need of such is found to be wanting. There appears to be an oversupply in some areas e.g. Gauteng and an under supply in others e.g. KwaZulu-Natal .

The major costing implications and challenges were noted as follows

· Department personnel provide approximately 40% of the services and Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provide approximately 60% of the services (under contract with the department). Yet NGOs receive only partial funding from the provincial departments and then h ave to raise donor funds to make up the difference.

· Global and local recession has exacerbated the funding crisis faced by NGOs and resulted in closure and downscaling of services for children and families

The report does not indicate how State intends to address the challenge of insufficient funding insofar as the following is concerned:

· Equitable Share Formula does not recognise the extra service mandates the new welfare laws (including Children’s Act) have placed on the provinces. The FFC recommended that the ESF should be amended to address this but this advice has not been followed. What is the plan to address this?

· Provinces do not always prioritise social welfare services when they divide their allocation between their departments. Social welfare services for children have not been identified as a national or provincial strategic priority and are also not a priority in the NDP. What is the plan to address this lack of political prioritisation?

Furthermore, the report does not indicate how the State intends to address the NGO funding crisis.

· Budget 2013 indicates that NPO Funding Policy is going to be reviewed again in 2013. It is clearly not providing the solution. What is the plan to stop valuable NGO services for children from deteriorating further?

3.1.8 Part 7: Education, leisure and cultural activities

Right to education, including vocational training and guidance

· The report reflects the challenges (e.g. teacher absenteeism) and achievements in the education sector. However the report does not elaborate on the infrastructure , the ‘mud schools’ settlement committed the Department of Basic Education to spending R8.2 billion over 3 years (this could be cited at par 278 on p 68).

· In terms of norms and standards, it was noted that the Minister for Basic Education has the power to set these as in the case of infrastructure. However, no norms and standards have been issued for admission with respect to capacity size of classes and teacher pupil ratio. This is problematic as the honours lies then school governing bodies (SGB) to determine that which has lead to a court case namely the case dealing with Rivonia Primary School .

• Furthermore, in terms of learner pregnancy policy, t he lack of a national policy has led to SGBs setting their own policy even though the ‘measures’ that were issued by Minister of Basic Education the practice remains inconsistent in dealing with these learners. The Welkom and Harmony High Schools cases are testament to this. Moreover, the constitutionality of learner pregnancy policy is under the spotlight in Constitutional Court at present.

3.1.9 Part 8: Special protection measures

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, internally displaced children, migrant children and children affected by migration

• Unaccompanied foreign children not given due attention in the report yet problems in this regard have to be noted. Currently, reference to refugee and asylum seeking children are only mentioned on p73.

Children in conflict with the law, victims and witnesses

• The report proudly records some of the gains made by the Child Justice Act (No 75 of 2008). However, the report could expand more and include the extraordinary reduction in the number of children in prison (at par 321) – if the report included figures going back to 2000 – there were about 4000 children in prison then.
• The report should be clearer about which children are awaiting trial and which are sentenced in terms of the statistics provided.
• The minimum age of criminal capacity (MACC) as noted in the Child Justice Act (No 75 of 2008) at age 10 years, will be considered to be very controversial with the UN committee. The report foreshadows this but could go further. To this end, the report should emphasise Parliament’s role in this regard as the MACC capacity must be reviewed by Parliament within 5 years (Child Justice Act came into op on 1 April 2010).
• A major concern is the drop of numbers of children in the diversion system. This could be attributed to a problem in police understanding with interpreting what diversion entails. However, it must also be noted that there are a high number of police trained on the Child Justice Act (No 75 of 2008).

3.2 Executive engagement

The Committee invited the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities; Social Development; Health; Basic Education; Home Affairs, Justice and Constitutional Development and Labour to brief the Committee on the country report.

3.2.1 Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities

The Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities presented a brief background to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. They also presented on the drafting process of the 2 ^nd , 3 ^rd and 4 ^th combined periodic report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. They explained the structure of the draft Report, the general observations to the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, with a focus on challenges and the way forward with regards to the depositing of the Report with the United Nations and the African Union.

3.2.2 Department of Social Development

The Department presented on its input made to the draft Country Report by focusing on the implementation of the Children’s Act. The presentation also focused on inter-sectoral collaboration, early childhood development, prevention and early intervention, child protection register, child abuse neglect and exploitation, child headed household, children living or working on the streets, children in conflict of law, discipline of children, alternative care, strengthening social service capacity, cultural issues, substance abuse and social assistance and statically information.

3.2.3 Department of Health

The presentation by the Department of Health started with a focus on the implementation of article 6 of the UNCRC, which relates to the right to life, survival and development of children. It also highlighted maternal and child survival, the various ministerial committees set up to focus on children’s health, why children die, The Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction in Maternal and Child Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) priorities, priority newborn interventions, prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV, package of health services, youth and child health care and mental health.

3.2.4 Department of Basic Education

The Department presented on the following topics related to the draft Country Report:

• Right to basic education;
• Article 29 of the CRC: The aims of education with reference to the quality of education and education on human rights and civic education;
• Human rights and civic education;
• Article 30 of the CRC: Cultural and linguistic rights of the children; and
• Article 31: rest, play, leisure, recreation, cultural and artistic activities.

3.2.5 Department of Home Affairs

The presentation by the Department focused on legislation administered by Home Affairs, the relevant parts related to its mandate, which are:

· definition of child;

· general principles;

· civil rights and freedoms;

· family environment and alternative care;

· disability, basic health and welfare; and

· special protection measures.

The presentation by the Department focused on these from a viewpoint of challenges and progress made by the Department of Home Affairs.

3.2.6 Department of Justice and Constitutional Development

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development dealt with the background on the compilation of the draft Country Report. It also focused on the relevant articles of the CRC, interventions, progressive achievements and limitations experienced by the Department, capacity building, public education and awareness, institutional mechanisms to protect and promote the rights of the children within JCPS Cluster and challenges and conclusion.

3.2.7 Department of Labour

The Department of Labour focused on child labour. The Department presented information on the study done by STATS SA on the activities of young people. The Department also looked at child labour enforcement policy, worst forms of child labour, regulations on hazardous work for 15 – 18 years old, The Department also presented on article 32 with specific reference to applicable minimum age, farm-workers sectoral determination and child labour cases between 2010 & 2012.

3.3 Committee observations

3.3.1 General

Structure of report

· References to correct appendices within text do not correlate.

· Certain sections within the report appear to be repeated or information provided which is not substantiated with evidence in the form of, for example disaggregated data.

Content

· The country report makes reference to the National Plan of Action for Children 2012-2017 as a finalised policy of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities. However, in November 2012 the Department presented a draft incomplete plan to the Committee with no costing for its implementation. Therefore it is unclear as to what the status of the plan is or how it relates to the Department’s overall Strategic Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy.

Statistics

· Reflection of statistics not uniform in terms of reporting period. Certain sections within the report provide outline of entire reporting period hence trends are reflected. However, in most instances statistics for a particular year is only given.

· Reference made to tables that often do not contain data. This gives skewed indication that information is available to substantiate an argument.

· Overall disaggregated data by sex and disability is lacking.

Budget

· The country report provides a skewed representation of the budget for a Department e.g. Health, Justice and Constitutional Development as this allocation is not ring-fenced for children’s programmes or services per say.

3.3.2 Observations as per Departmental engagement

DEPARTMENT OF WOMEN, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The Committee noted the following observations and recommendations for the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities regarding the draft periodic country report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:

1. The Committee was concerned with the lack of cooperation and reports received from 10 Departments in the compilation of the draft Country Report. With that, the Committee also noted the importance of the Department of Defence & Military Veterans in providing information on the implementation of the Optional Protocol on Children involved in Armed Conflict.

2. The Committee observed that the data represented was not disaggregated (as required by the Concluding Observations of the previous report), had no uniform standard (as random years were used for various tables and that some tables with data were incomplete).

3. The Committee observed that the budgets mentioned in the draft Country Report for the Departments are in fact the respective Departments’ entire budgets and are not disaggregated to what is spent on children.

4. The Committee observed that there is no separate annexure with how the concluding observations, based on the previous report, were implemented. The Committee noted that the draft Country Report does indeed speak to the concluding observations, but it would be helpful to observe in one format how South Africa implemented the previous concluding observations.

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The Committee noted the following observations and recommendations for the Department of Social Development regarding the draft periodic country report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:

1. The Committee was concerned about the limited funding for non-governmental organisations delivering welfare services for children in need of care and protection. The Committee noted that these services were essential to the child protection system in South Africa .

2. The Committee observed that the draft Country Report does not contain statistics of children who might have been subjected to corporal punishment at child and youth care centres and drug rehabilitation centres.

3. The Committee observed that the draft Country Report does not provide statistics on the success rate of family reunification for children, who were placed in alternative care.

4. The Committee observed that the draft Country Report does not provide accurate statistics of children who enter the child protection system, as the child protection register, as established by the Children’s Act, is still not 100% functional.

5. The Committee observed that the Department of Social Development committed to expanding the child support grant to certain groups of vulnerable children, as R280 per month, currently is not sufficient to have a greater impact on the lives of children living in poverty.

DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS

The Committee noted the following observations and recommendations for the Department of Home Affairs regarding the draft periodic country report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:

1. The Committee observed that the progress with regards to the abolition of abridged birth certificates introduced is not reflected in the draft Country Report.

2. The Committee was concerned that the draft Country Report did not mention death certificates for children who might have died as this has an impact on child support grant.

3. The Committee observed that in many instances the birth registration process is problematic as it takes a protracted length of time, in some instances birth certificates are duplicated and there is general complaint that documents are always lost and need to be re-submitted.

4. The Committee observed that the draft Country Report does not address unaccompanied, foreign minor children in South Africa who do not qualify as refugees or asylum seekers.

5. The Committee observed that reception centres for persons seeking asylum and refugee status has not been opened, as per various court orders. The Committee noted that these centres not only benefit adults, but also children, as the issuing of documents to them would serve as a basis for accessing various services, such as education.

DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION

The Committee noted the following observations and recommendations for the Department of Basic Education regarding the draft periodic country report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:

1. The Committee noted that the amount of children with disabilities of school-going age that are currently out of school is not reflected in the draft Country Report, despite it being reflected in the draft Country Report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In this regard, the Committee noted that it is important to state both the positive developments made with regards to the implementation of the right to education for children with disabilities and the fact that more than 480 000 children with disabilities of school going age are still out of school.

2. The Committee noted that even in cases where there are many special schools for children with disabilities, these schools (especially in the North West province) are not sufficiently resourced to ensure that quality education is given to children with disabilities.

3. The Committee observed that the draft Country Report does not mention any plans with regards to the implementation of Education White Paper 6 on the implementation of the right to education for children with disabilities and learning difficulties.

4. The Committee noted with concern the amount of children that are still subjected to corporal punishment in the draft Country Report, despite this practice being outlawed in legislation for a very long time.

5. The Committee observed that this Report still mentions the school sports policy as a “draft”. The Committee noted that this policy has been presented as a draft to Parliament approximately 2 or 3 years ago. Therefore, the Committee wanted to know what the Department of Basic Education would be doing to finalise this policy.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Committee noted the following observations and recommendations for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development regarding the draft periodic country report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:

1. The Committee observed that the positive developments with regards to the protection of child victims and witnesses, which is in compliance with the United Nations Guidelines on the Treatment of Victims and Witnesses, can be emphasised more in the draft Country Report.

2. The Committee observed that in previous meetings with the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, it was found that the statistics on the implementation of the Child Justice Act was flawed and these same statistics are found within the draft Country Report.

3. The Committee observed that the minimum age of criminal responsibility is still not in compliance with the international standard set by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, which is 12 years. The age in South Africa is currently at 10 years.

4. The Committee observed that more can be said about the positive impact of the Child Justice Act in the draft Country Report. In this regard, the Committee noted the decrease in the number of children in prison awaiting trial and sentenced.

5. The Committee noted that the table on the statistics of children who were trafficked in the draft Country Report was blank. Therefore the Committee wanted to know how many cases of child trafficking were dealt with by the courts. If the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development have these statistics then it should be included in the draft Country Report.

6. The Committee observed that the statistics on pages 120 and 124 of the draft Country Report are the responsibility of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

The Committee noted the following observations and recommendations for the Department of Health regarding the draft periodic country report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:

1. The Committee observed that there are still many women who suffer from “street abortions” in South Africa , especially in the rural areas. The Committee wanted to know what the Department of Health is doing to promote safe abortions within clinics and public health facilities.

2. The Committee observed that even though the Department of Health is doing better with regards to infant and child mortality in urban areas, this is not the case in rural areas, where services are scares. In this regard the Committee also noted that the statistics of public health services in the rural areas is needed.

3. The Committee observed that family planning is not promoted, as more abortions are taking place and infanticide is in the increase.

4. The Committee observed that there are some positive aspects which can be mentioned in the draft Country Report, such as the fight against polio and the eradication of this disease.

DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR

The Committee noted the following observations and recommendations for the Department of Labour regarding the draft periodic country report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:

1. The Committee observed that the statistics provided by the Department of Labour in its power point presentation on the survey on child labour per province was outdated, as it dated to 2006.

2. The Committee observed that there are instances where children below the age of 15 years are still working on farms and that parents allow this.

3. The Committee observed that children below the age of 15 years sell fruits and goods along the road.

4. Conclusion

The Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities commends the achievements made in advancing children’s rights in South Africa . Notwithstanding this, the Committee acknowledges the myriad of challenges faced in giving effect to the fulfilment, protection and advancement of children’s rights in South Africa . To this end, Parliament as a duty-bearer of children’s rights has a crucial role to play in terms of oversight in this regard.

5. Recommendations

Having considered the outcomes of the briefing by civil society and the Departments on the country report as well as further deliberations on it, the Committee recommends as follows:

GENERAL

1. That more evidence of Government achievements as best practice should be cited in the report.

2. That the report should state clearly reasons for lack of disaggregated data or absence of data. Concerted effort should be made to improve data collection systems in preparation for the 5 ^th country report.

3. The following cases were recommended for inclusion in the report namely:

• Convention on the Rights of the Child at paragraph 38 on page 19

• Teddy Bear Clinic and Rapcan v Min of Justice at paragraph 53

• Cases on right to be heard (below para 103) Christian Schools , Pillay, Soller NO v G and Ano and Legal Aid Board v R

• C and other v Department of Social Development, Gauteng (2012), Constitutional Court judgment – specifically mentions CRC, Children’s Act left our automatic right of review of decision to remove children from parents (required by CRC) – court declared unconstitutional and ‘read in’, Should mention at para 149 on p 42

• The Pillay case should be mentioned regarding religious freedom in schools (only Antonie mentioned)

• Inter-country adoption (see paragraph 174 on p 46) – should mention AD v DW ( Con Court ) which decided best interests as determining factor

• Juma Musjid case – about the right to a basic education.

DEPARTMENT OF WOMEN, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

1. The Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities should adopt more proactive and creative ways of engaging with sister Departments on the necessary reports needed. In this instance they should seek a common understanding on importance of Departmental reports. The Committee also recommended that the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities have awareness campaigns in which they educate other Departments on why the need for these reports, as it is more than just a “technical exercise”.

2. The Committee recommended that the Department should take statistics seriously and present it in an acceptable manner. In this regard, the Committee recommended that where the Departments do not collect certain data that these columns are removed as it would be embarrassing for South Africa to present tables with data that is blank. With that, once the Monitoring and Evaluation strategy has been completed, the Department should have a standard tool for the collection of data to ensure that it is streamlined, relevant and uniformed.

3. The Committee recommended that the Department consults the Estimates of National Expenditure and investigate how much the relevant Departments will be spending on children, where possible. This would provide the UN Committee with a more accurate reflection of budgets spent on children.

4. The Committee recommended that the Department lists all the concluding observations based on the previous report and state what has been done to implement those concluding observations and what still needs to be done where concluding observations were not implemented.

5. The status of the National Plan of Action for Children should be clarified and the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities to be briefed accordingly insofar as progress with regards to implementation.

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

1. The Department of Social Development should work towards ensuring that sufficient funding is progressively made available to non-governmental organisations delivering child protection services, as these services fall within the mandate of the State.

2. The Department should provide statistics on how many children were subjected to corporal punishment at child and youth care centres and drug rehabilitation centres.

3. The Department of Social Development should as a matter of urgency complete the population of the child protection register to ensure that it serves its function with regards to the prevention of violence against children and ensuring that statistics of children in the child protection system would be more accurate than currently stated.

4. The Committee recommends that the Department of Social Development should prioritise the expansion of the child support grant, in amount and reach, to children who are in particularly vulnerable situations, like being orphaned and at the same time disqualify for receiving the foster care grant.

5. The Department provide statistics on the success rate of family reunification, despite the fact that the Department views this as a serious challenge. In this manner one can get an objective overview of what is needed to make family reunification work.

6. That more emphasis be placed on giving effect to Policy Frameworks for the prevention and management of child abuse.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

1. The Department of Health should promote the use of safe abortions by accessing clinics and public health facilities.

2. The Department of Health should prioritise the curbing of infant and child mortality in rural areas and provide statistics on services available and how many people it in fact reaches in rural areas, especially deep rural areas.

3. The Department of Health, together with other Departments, focus on curbing the instances of infanticide and promote prevention of unwanted births by way of family planning. To this end, infanticide is a challenge but more research is required in order to obtain a full understanding of the problem so as to devise appropriate evidence based interventions.

4. A greater focus on maternal mental health is required in order to assess for post-natal depression in light of the infanticide.

5. That the positive aspects in the provision of health care services for children be emphasised more in the draft Country Report, especially in relation to the eradication of polio.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

1. That the positive developments with regards to the impact of the Child Justice Act should be included in the draft Country Report and that more emphasis be placed on the special procedures within our courts for child victims and witnesses.

2. That the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development urgently address the collation of statistics of children in the child justice system. The Committee emphasised the importance of these statistics and that the Department should take its obligations in this regard seriously.

3. The Committee recommended that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development put urgent measures in place to ensure that the minimum age of criminal responsibility be increased to 12 years.

4. The Committee recommended that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development provide statistics on the number of cases brought before the courts for trafficking of children and fill in the blank statistics that is the department’s responsibility for implementation.

DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION

1. That the statistics of children with disabilities of school going age that are currently not accessing education be inserted in the draft Country Report.

2. The Department of Basic Education puts a plan in place to ensure the implementation of White Paper 6 on inclusive education, as this would provide special schools with the necessary resources to provide education for children with disabilities and ensure that more children with disabilities access education.

3. That the Department of Basic Education places a large focus on the use of positive discipline and alternatives to corporal punishment within schools. The Committee noted that we cannot have a situation where educators violate the law on this.

4. That the draft School Sports policy be finalised and implemented.

5. That a national policy on learner pregnancy along with guidelines with timeframes for implementation be finalised.

DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS

1. That the progress made with regards to the abolition of abridged birth certificates be reflected in the draft Country Report to show positive progress with regards to the implementation of the UNCRC.

2. The Department should ensure that the death statistics for children should be reflected in the report as this would have an impact in the report.

3. The Department of Home Affairs should put systems in place that would ensure efficiency in the production of birth certificates and identity documents and that would curb fraudulent duplications of identity numbers.

4. The Department should ensure that matters related to unaccompanied, foreign minor children in South Africa who do not qualify as refugees or asylum seekers are addressed.

5. The Department of Home Affairs should seriously consider fast-tracking the re-opening of reception centres for persons seeking asylum and refugee status to ensure that foreign children in South Africa are also beneficiaries of essential services.

DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR

1. The Department of Labour provides more current statistics on child labour per province.

2. That labour inspectors should be deployed to farming areas to ensure that children below the age of 15 years are not employed to work on farms.

3. The Committee observed that the amendments to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act on “child work” and “child labour” be fast tracked in order to ensure that children below the age of 15 years do not work on streets as vendors.

Report to be considered.