Children demand tougher laws to protect them from abuse

Young children have called on the Department of Justice to enforce harsher punishment for those that violate children. The children, joined by child protection activists and government officials, marched to the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg to voice their concerns.

Enhle Nzimambe a 12-year-old girl from Soweto, speaks about the horrific stories she often hears that involve children.

“Heard that a lot of children are killed after school; they are followed, they are taken, and their body parts are sliced away. They are, you know, they are sold. And I am deeply hurt because I feel like now I need a transport driver to take me home.”

Her peers also say they don’t feel safe, as perpetrators often go unpunished. They marched to the Constitutional Court to voice their concerns.

“I’m tired of so many things going on against children. I mean, it’s rape; it’s violence. And I feel like nothing is being done, really. There are no stricter laws; perpetrators go out and bail. A lot of children in our country are abused a lot sexually, physically, and, you know, emotionally. And I feel bad because I’m a child too and I must do everything in my power to raise awareness and protect children. I don’t feel safe, actually, because a lot of people that have been abusing children, when they go to jail, they are bailed out and I’m really sad about that.” 

Gauteng MEC for Social Development Faith Mazibuko has called for the speedy release of the Sex Offenders Registry.

“We believe if the sexual offences register is not up and running, then the vetting of any childcare worker, whether a teacher or any other person, the results will be null and void because they’ll continue working with children and being paedophiles, and the system will not detect any of these abusers within the system. That is why we said, Minister, you need to stand up, and you need to ensure that that register of sexual offences is up and running.”

WATCH: Child Safety Week | Children voice safety concerns as they march to the Constitutional Court

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mamoloko Kubayi, has welcomed the voices and concerns of children. She says what is even scary is reported cases of child trafficking that sometimes involve parents.

“We have acknowledged that the issue of gender-based violence is rising. There are quite a lot of issues that we are concerned about, but a new phenomenon is that mothers are literally commercialising their children, where you find that they are taking money and selling their children. Find, so those cases are worrying because ordinarily, previously, we used to worry about fathers who are molesting these children or who are raping these children. And therefore, mothers are going to seek help and protect the children.”

She says the department is committed to ensuring that child perpetrators are prosecuted accordingly.