It seems as if there isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t read about some or other sex act committed against a child in this country. But 16 months after its inception, only one person has been deemed unsuitable to work with children and been named on the national Child Protection Register.

Yesterday, Democratic Alliance MP Patricia Kopane, wanted to know how this was possible:

Last year, there were 4 000 reported cases of ill-treatment of children. And we know that South Africa is a world capital for ‘baby rape’ and the sexual abuse of minors – it is estimated that around 30 000 children per year are victims of sexual abuse.

In this context, it is difficult to believe that only one person in the entire country is prohibited from working with children. The minister… has some explaining to do.

It’s impossible not to agree with her.

According to the way the list is organised, it was created in terms of the 2005 Children’s Act, and consists of two parts.

Part A reports on the abuse or deliberate neglect of a child, and all convictions of people on charges involving such abuse or deliberate neglect, and part B is supposed to record people found to be unsuitable to work with children, and protect children from them.

In a reply, Social Development Minister, Bathabile Dlamini, confirmed the register was “fully operational,” and had an allocated budget of R1.7 million.

Her concern is obvious:

Only one name appears on the Child Protection Register as a person who is unsuitable to work with children. However, there are 64 names of persons who have been convicted of crimes against children, who still need to be found unsuitable to work with children by the courts that convicted them, as required by the Children’s Act.

According to a press release, Kopane would be calling on Dlamini to appear before the social development portfolio committee to explain herself.

[Source: News24]