A Gauteng High Court judgment has highlighted serious shortcomings in South Africa’s National Child Protection Register, with child rights organisations warning that poor vetting and delays in updating the register could put children at risk.
By Mapaballo Borotho
A Gauteng High Court judgment has affirmed the state’s responsibility to ensure that South Africa’s National Child Protection Register is properly maintained and effectively protects children.
The ruling follows a case brought by the Teddy Bear Foundation and SECTION27 over concerns about the vetting of people who work with children.
The court found that the Department of Social Development is responsible for maintaining the register and stressed that protecting children must remain a priority across government departments.
Phemelo Motene spoke to SECTION27’s Head of Education Rights, Zeenat Sujee, on Kaya 959’s Point of View.
Sujee explained that the National Child Protection Register is regulated under the Child Protection Act, with the Department of Social Development acting as its custodian.
“The Department needs to ensure that it is implemented, and the correct word is that it has to keep on maintaining the register,” she said.
The register requires various government departments, including the Departments of Health and Basic Education, to report cases where they suspect that children may be at risk under the care of an individual.
The Department of Justice is also required to ensure that people who have been convicted of offences that make them unsuitable to work with children are reported to the register.
However, SECTION27 says the register is not being updated regularly enough, potentially putting children at risk.
Sujee says the organisation found several shortcomings in how the system is being implemented.
“We found that the Department of Justice is not reporting, the Department of Basic Education never vetted any of their employees for the register, and we also found that there were backlogs, hence the register was never updated,” she said.
She says these failures prompted SECTION27 and the Teddy Bear Foundation to approach the court in an effort to hold government departments accountable.
Sujee emphasised that the effectiveness of the register depends on cooperation between government departments.
“What the register importantly does is that it requires that all departments need to work together,” she said.
The organisations are now calling for the relevant departments to comply with their legal obligations and ensure that the register is regularly updated to prevent unsuitable individuals from working with children.
Listen to the podcast for the full conversation.
READ NEXT:
