Joshlin Smith: Activists say cops and justice system fail to protect SA’s children

Three months since the disappearance of sixyear-old Joshlin Smith from Saldanha Bay in Western Cape, activists claim there is a lack of follow-through from the police and the justice system on reports of child abuse.

South Africa has good legislation, looking at the Children’s Act, said Shaheda Omar, director of the Teddy Bear Foundation for Abused Children.

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“All these rights speak to the best interest of the child, about protecting children. But the huge challenge is the implementation and the system itself,” she said.

“There are huge delays and inappropriate and inadequate responses attending to the victim.”

When launching Child Protection Week, Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu said the story of Joshlin Smith “is a sad story of many children in our country whose rights are violated and robbed of their childhood”.

Addressing delegates at the Mittah Seperepere Convention Centre in Kimberley, the minister voiced concern over the unacceptably high levels of violence against children in the country.

“One of the issues that I am deeply concerned about is the sexual exploitation and abuse of children online. Children today spend most of their time online,” she said.

The Disrupting Harm study showed while the number of young children accessing the internet and new technology had grown significantly over recent years, awareness of the potential risks remained low and cases of online sexual abuse and exploitation had reportedly increased significantly, Zulu said.

“Addressing these real threats requires a holistic approach and commitment from all stakeholders, including parents, teachers, community-based organisations and children themselves,” she said.

Marianne Strydom, professor at Stellenbosch University’s social work department, said there was a strong correlation between poverty, unemployment and low education and the incidence of child abuse and neglect.

Communities where these factors were prevalent would have a higher incidence of child abuse.

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“There are not enough social workers to render services. There is a lack of resources, such as financial resources. Organisations do not have sufficient financial resources to appoint more social workers,” Strydom said.

The latest welfare cuts would further influence the quality of service delivery and may result in the inability of social workers to protect the constitutional rights of children to not be abused and neglected, she said.

“The impact of violence on children is devastating and longterm trauma counselling is often not available. Therefore, services should be focused on the prevention of child abuse and neglect and, preferably, not on managing the effects thereof,” Strydom said.

According to Omar, the National Prosecuting Authority works “in that they are more likely to look at cases that they are going to get a conviction on. Cases that they are not sure about the conviction are highly unlikely to go on to the court roll.

“These are some of the frustrations and challenges, but even cases that have been opened and are being investigated have a long delay,” she said.

“This is a systematic problem and it’s not just a responsibility of one government department.

“It’s a collective effort that needs to be addressed. There’s a lack of consistency and communication,” Omar said.