Opinion piece by: Errol Naidoo
Article source: familypolicyinstitute.com
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 guarantees children certain rights. These include: (Section 9) Equality, (Section 10) Human Dignity, (Section 12) Freedom and Security of the Person, (Section 26) Right of Access to Adequate Housing, (Section 27) Right of Access to Basic Health Care, Sufficient Food, Clean Water, and Social Support.
(Section 28) Protection of Care, Nutrition, Shelter, Safety, and Legal Representation and (Section 29) Rights to Basic and Further Education. The Foundational Principle of children’s rights is found in (Section 28 [2]) of the Constitution: “A child’s best interest are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child.”
Tragically, children have been denied their constitutional rights as a direct result of the governing failures of the African National Congress (ANC). Securing and upholding the rights, freedoms and provisions outlined in the Constitution depend on a democratically elected government that is committed to efficient, honest and transparent governance to secure, promote, and protect the constitutional rights of every citizen without prejudice.
The rampant corruption, tender-fraud, theft, money-laundering, racketeering, gross mismanagement of state resources and general malfeasance that has characterised ANC governance at every level of government – has directly contributed to millions of vulnerable children being denied their constitutional rights, protection, dignity and future aspirations.
Despite Sections 27 and 28 of the Constitution guaranteeing children’s access to basic health care, sufficient food, clean water, social support, protection of care, and nutrition, the media reports children are dying of hunger in South Africa. School nutrition feeding schemes were implemented to ensure poor and vulnerable children received nutritious meals at school because they lacked the proper nutrition at home. However, the school nutrition feeding scheme is riddled with corruption by ANC cadres. The resulting mismanagement and political meddling in the scheme has left millions of children destitute.
The “Children’s Institute” at the University of Cape Town (UCT) reports that more than 8 million children in South Africa suffer from acute malnutrition to the extent their growth is stunted. The suffering of innocent and vulnerable children is a result of deepening poverty brought on by increasing unemployment levels. Poverty and unemployment is increasing in SA as a direct result of ANC economic policies that have strangled economic growth and scared away foreign investors due to BEE, endemic corruption, and failed Marxist policies.
And while children die of hunger in South Africa and millions more suffer from malnutrition, ANC officials loot billions from the state treasury. ANC cadres and their cronies live in mansions, own fleets of exotic vehicles, travel first class, stay at five star hotels and shop at luxury brand stores, while almost half the population (28 million citizens) eke out a living on social welfare grants. SA’s debt is now almost R6 trillion – 76% of GDP – because of ANC corruption, cadre deployment incompetence, and gross mismanagement of state resources. The country has literally run out of money because of economic decline.
Section 29 of the Constitution guarantees children the right and access to basic and further education. The ANC has degraded the standard and quality of education in South Africa as a result of bad policy, the lowering of educational standards and incompetent leadership. Today, 80% of children in SA schools cannot read for meaning. South Africa’s education is consistently rated at the bottom of the education index in global education standards.
Despite this, The Dept of Basic Education (DBE) extended its control over all aspects of education through the Basic Education Amendment Act (BELA). The DBE surrendered control to UNESCO to implement the foreign-devised “Comprehensive Sexuality Education” (CSE) in schools. Research of the Scripted Lesson Plans of CSE revealed blatant abortion and LGBTQ sexual indoctrination disguised as sex education. CSE’s goal is to drive a wedge between children and parents, undermining the values taught at home.
Former ANC Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga claimed CSE was implemented in public schools “to help children make informed choices about their sexuality.” She claimed it would reduce teen-pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections like HIV/AIDS. However, teen-pregnancies skyrocketed during the five years CSE was piloted in the public schooling system. The DBE itself released shocking statistics of teen-pregnancies in South Africa’s schools that proves CSE is an abject failure. Despite this, the DBE has not considered alternative sex-education even though South African educators have devised a common-sense curriculum that addresses the country’s unique challenges.
Despite Section 9 of the Constitution guaranteeing children the right to equality – equal protection and benefit of the law – persistent inequality between urban and rural children remain. Learners in township and farm schools suffer inferior infrastructure and resources. Many children with disabilities remain excluded from mainstream schooling.
Section 12 of the Constitution guarantees the right to Freedom and Security of the Person. However, child abuse cases remain high in South Africa, with conviction rates extremely low. Many children experience violence at home, in schools, and in state care. The ANC’s anti-family policies have contributed to the breakdown of the South African family.
Despite research indicating that strong, stable families are the best protection for children, the ANC’s sexual rights policies have undermined the two-parent family. As a result, social data indicates only about 30 percent of children live with both biological parents. Fatherless homes are a scourge in South Africa. Family dysfunction has soared as a result of ANC governance failures leading to a multitude of social ills linked to family breakdown.
Despite the social carnage caused by family breakdown, the ANC government formulated the gender-neutral “Marriage Bill” that seeks to redefine monogamous marriage in South Africa. The “Marriage Bill” will abolish the distinctions of husband and wife and redefine monogamous marriage to include same sex and transgender unions. The unique distinction of marriage between a man and a woman will be abolished in the new Bill.
The ANC formulated the gender-neutral “Marriage Bill” to appease global and local sexual rights groups who claim the “Civil Union Act” – that provides LGBTQ citizens with all the rights and privileges of marriage – is discriminatory. The redefinition of marriage will be devastating to children who need both a father and a mother for their overall well-being.
The ANC government also tabled an amendment to the Sexual Offences Act in 2022 to repeal the laws that criminalise the sale and purchase of sexual services. If passed by Parliament, the Bill would have fully legalised the sex-industry in SA. Thankfully, state law advisors warned the Department of Justice the Bill would not pass constitutional scrutiny.
Significantly, the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) conducted a 9 year comprehensive investigation into Prostitution Law Reform and submitted its Final Report to the Department of Justice (DoJ). The Report stated legalised prostitution is the worst possible policy for SA because of the high rates of poverty, unemployment and abuse of women. The DoJ rejected the SALRC findings because it conflicted with the ANC’s foreign influenced sexual rights agenda. Critically, however, research indicates wherever adult prostitution is legalised, child prostitution increases. The ANC ignored all the warnings from the SALRC – and SA citizens – to advance its foreign influenced sexual rights agenda.
The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Children’s Institute reports, despite enacting crucial legislation like “The Children’s Act” the ANC government’s failures to enforce the laws coupled with staggering rates of incompetence and corruption in policing has ensured that child abuse remains widespread in South Africa after three decades of democracy.
“A study on child maltreatment, commissioned by the UBS Optimus Foundation – a grant-making foundation – revealed startling results. The report, which provided a national overview of the prevalence of child abuse, violence, and neglect in South Africa, found that 42% of children experienced some level of violence during their childhood. Further, the report indicated that in 2015 alone, roughly 355 000 cases of sexual abuse were perpetuated against children between the ages of 15 and 17.”
Section 10 of the Constitution guarantees children the right to human dignity. However, the persistent high rates of violence, abuse, sexual exploitation, poverty, hunger, malnutrition, lack of decent education, lack of adequate housing and increasing vulnerability of children in SA has robbed children of their dignity and security, proving the ANC government has failed to uphold its constitutional obligations to the country’s most vulnerable citizens.
“Rescue SA Civil Rights Alliance” (RSACRA) was formed to gather social data on the sufferings of children in SA as a direct consequence of governing failures. ANC facilitated corruption and the mismanagement of state resources – as a direct result of the ANC’s cadre deployment policy – has robbed vulnerable children of their dignity, education, stable family life, future aspirations, nutrition, health, and right to life. Family Policy Institute partners with RSACRA to hold all elected and appointed public officials accountable for crimes against humanity as set out above in South African and international courts.
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Date published: 18/11/2025
Feature image: Image for illustrative purposes only. Artwork adapted from www.freepik.com
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