Parents turn perpetrators in child abuse cases

Parents are commonly seen as safe spaces and safe havens for children.

A parent, who is supposed to protect and nurture their child, is most often the last person society will expect to bring harm to their children.

However, 2025 proved in numerous cases that parents can be the perpetrators of violence and crime against their children.

2025 cases of parental violence, trafficking, and murder

The biggest case of maternal violence, child abuse and exploitation was the tragedy of six-year-old Joshlin Smith. The little girl disappeared in February, but her story has haunted families and communities across South Africa ever since.

In May, the Western Cape High Court sentenced her mother, Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis, and Steveno van Rhyn to life for the kidnapping and trafficking.

The court revealed that Joshlin’s mother and accomplices sold her for R20 00. Judge Nathan Erasmus delivered a powerful judgment noting the absence of any remorse from the accused.

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Following the ruling, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi said no sentence can undo the trauma or return Joshlin.

“But today’s sentence sends a strong and clear message that those who violate the innocence and trust of our children will face the full consequences of the law,” she said.

The human trafficking and premeditated murder case of two-year-old Kutlwano Shalaba was also shocking.

Kutlwano Shalaba case

The boy’s mother, Keneilwe Shalaba, and a traditional healer, Sebokoana Khounyana, face multiple charges, including premeditated murder and human trafficking, at Vanderbijlpark Magistrates Court.

Police claim that in November 2024, Shalaba poisoned her child and, with Khounyana’s help, buried the body in a small grave close to the R28 at Bekkersdal, Randfontein. Khoanyana was arrested in May and led police to where the victim’s body was buried.

Shalaba is also accused of wanting the child killed because she didn’t like his gender and had been portraying her daughter as a boy.

Shalaba and Khoanyana will remain in custody until January.

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Jayden-Lee Meek case

The news of the death of 11-year-old Jayden-Lee Meek was shattering, but his mother Tiffany Nicole Meek’s arrest incited a new wave of horror and grief.

On May 13, Jayden-Lee was reported missing after failing to come home from school.  The following day, his body was discovered a few metres from his home, close to a stairway within the Fleurhof complex.

After a thorough investigation, Meek was taken into custody on July 11 and has been detained since being refused bail.

The mother faces charges of murder, defeating or obstructing the administration of justice, crimen injuria/attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice and child abuse/negligence.

Non-governmental organisation focusing on child abuse, Teddy Bear Foundation clinical director Dr Shaheda Omar said that these cases, decades of research and police crime statistics prove that children are unsafe in their own homes.

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“The tragic cases of Joshlin Smith, Jayden-Lee, and Nikita are not isolated anomalies; they sit atop a larger pattern in which harm is inflicted by those closest to the child—biological parents, intimate partners, relatives, and caregivers,” Omar said.

She said that while not every home is dangerous, evidence shows that home-based risks are widespread and systematic.

Save the Children South Africa (SCSA) chief executive Gugu Xaba said that many South African children face their greatest danger at home. She said household violence is widespread, and almost half of pupils face illegal corporal punishment.

Greatest danger for children at home

“These realities show that violence, neglect, and exploitation are not rare exceptions but widespread threats inside family environments. South Africa cannot claim its children are safe at home,” Xaba said.

The CEO said the underlying issues behind such crimes are systematic failures driven by poverty, inequality, harmful social norms, and weak child protection systems. Xaba said this leaves children highly vulnerable to neglect, abuse, and trafficking, often within violent households.

The impact is severe and lasting, with widespread sexual abuse, frequent assaults, and trauma that fuels cycles of violence across generations, she said.

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“SCSA asserts that unless poverty, inequality, harmful norms, and weak protection systems are addressed in coordinated, long-term ways, these crimes will continue,” Xaba said.

“Tackling individual perpetrators alone is not enough; the environment that enables violence must be transformed.”

Omar said violence by biological parents arises from a complex mix of multigenerational trauma, poverty, substance abuse, mental health challenges, harmful social norms, and intimate partner violence, all of which heighten children’s vulnerability.

Underlying causes for parents as perpetrators

She said these risks are intensified by social isolation and weak child protection systems that fail to intervene early or provide adequate support.

“These factors combine into environments where children become invisible and unprotected,” Omar said.

Xaba said that ending violence against children requires systemic reform, including a stronger child protection system, better-resourced services, effective prevention programmes, and community efforts to challenge harmful norms.

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Omar said protecting children requires a coordinated, whole-of-society effort in which government strengthens child protection systems, supports families, improves reporting, expands mental health and substance abuse services, alleviates poverty, and enforces accountability.

She said communities, leaders, and the media must also break the silence around abuse, create safe spaces, empower children, and use their influence to promote protection and awareness.