A VIEW OF THE WEEK: We need a ceasefire in the war on children

The theme for this year’s Child Protection Week is “working together in ending violence against children”, but South Africa only came together in outrage.

Child Protection Week started on 29 May and ended on Thursday, but it felt like it never really started. The intended focus on children’s rights, safety, and community involvement was all overshadowed by mourning.

As soon as the week began, police announced the gruesome discovery of the body of a child suspected to be that of two-year-old Kutlwano Shalaba, who went missing last November. The toddler’s mother and a sangoma have both been arrested in connection with the death and face charges of murder and human trafficking.

A few days later, 14-year-old Likhona Fose’s mutilated body was found in an empty field in Roodeport, Gauteng. Police believe Fose was either targeted for her sexuality, making it a hate crime, or her body parts were mutilated for muthi purposes.

Not far from that scene, just two days later, a young boy was shot, allegedly through the head and throat, in Westbury. The community claimed it took several hours for paramedics or police to attend to the incident.

Children at risk

These were just three incidents that grabbed the headlines in the seven days that Child Protection Week is commemorated. Nevermind other murders that may not have been reported, or the bullying, abuse and neglect that is a daily hell for children.

Statistics show that around 1 288 children die in road accidents every year, more than 20 died of food-borne diseases in 2024, and around 140 children are known to be missing.

Thousands go to school hungry each day, while thousands more do not even attend school.

The problem is not only a rural one, with a recent General Household Survey finding that across SA’s major urban metros, 578 000 households with children live on less than R2 500 a month.

It also found that around 10% of children with special needs do not attend school, with more than 1 in 3 missing school in Mangaung and eThekwini.

The government is assisting, with 54% of children attending school for free and 51% receiving social grants.

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Who will protect our kids?

While children’s rights are enshrined in the constitution, they are too often ignored.

If it takes a village to raise a child, it should be that village’s responsibility to hold each other to account.

There should never be abuse disguised as discipline or bullying masquerading as jokes.

Children should never be neglected for convenience or left behind because they are scared to have a voice.

School transport owners should not put profit before lives by cramming children on overcrowded and unroadworthy transport.

It should not be that children should walk among crime hotspots to get to school, or find the school itself a hotbed of criminality.

Parents, teachers, caregivers, community leaders, and children themselves should be taught the signs of abuse and recognise them when displayed.

During Child Protection Week, and beyond, we must remember that we were all once children in need of help. We owe it to the rising generation to keep them safe and give them a chance in life we may have never got.

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