Child Labour Programme of Action (South Africa) - Background

Background

The South African Constitution provides that children under 18 have a right to be protected from work that is exploitative, hazardous, inappropriate for their age, detrimental to their schooling, or detrimental to their social, physical, mental, spiritual, or moral development. The term 'work' is not limited to work in economic activities (e.g. paid employment) but includes chores or household activities in the child's household (such as collecting wood and fuel), where such work is exploitative, hazardous, inappropriate for their age, or detrimental to their development. The term 'child labour' as used in the Child Labour Programme of Action covers all these forms of child work.

The labour department estimates that there were about one million of South Africa's children who are working as child labourers.

South Africa has ratified the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (C138). This Convention requires ratifying states to pursue a national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to progressively raise the minimum age for admission to employment or work. South Africa also assisted in drafting the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (C182), which it ratified in 2000. In terms of this convention South Africa must take time-bound measures to eliminate the worst forms of child labour (WFCL). These include forms of bonded labour, commercial sexual exploitation of children, trafficking of children, and the use of children by others in illegal activities, including drug trafficking.

Since 1996 the Government of South Africa has been involved in a process towards the formulation of appropriate policies and a national action programme to combat child labour. The Department of Labour is the lead department in the process.

The South African Government has a wide range of existing programmes that are directly and indirectly improving the situation of children. Many are aimed at addressing poverty, for example, the public works programmes, the provision of basic infrastructure, access to basic services and the roll out of social grants that benefit children. The programmes are funded for the most part from the government budget. The Child Labour Programme of Action is intended to complement and strengthen the existing programmes where they are not adequately preventing child labour.

The first step in the development of the South African programme was the establishment of a reliable and credible database on child work in the country. In 1999, Statistics South Africa conducted the first national household-based survey of child work in South Africa, the Survey of Activities of Young People (SAYP).

In addition to the SAYP, as part of the development of the Child Labour programme of Action, all known qualitative research conducted within South Africa on areas relevant to this policy was reviewed. This review was used, in particular, to inform those elements of the policy that deal with forms of work and employment that survey methodologies cannot address and was published as Discussion document towards a National Child Labour Action Programme.

The SAYP and review of qualitative research confirmed that South Africa does not seem to have as serious a problem in regard to child labour as some other countries. In particular, the extent of child labour in the formal sectors of the economy is limited. However, the SAYP also confirmed that there indeed are children in the country who are doing unacceptable amounts of work, or work of an unacceptable nature. South Africa clearly needs to address these if it is to fulfill its commitment in terms of the Constitution and international conventions. Addressing the problems sooner rather than later should also help to avoid their multiplying and becoming more serious and difficult to address in the future.