Children are the most vulnerable in our society and this Child Protection Week (31 May- 07 June 2020) we need to place a specific focus on their wellbeing. Under national government’s irrational lockdown, an increasing number of families suffer from food insecurity and too often, our children suffer the most.
MPP Gillion Bosman comments: “It is a welcome respite that many vulnerable children can still receive a meal from schools through the Western Cape Government’s intervention, and that grades 7 and 12 pupils will be back at school to benefit from the school nutrition programme.”
According to the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town, many children were particularly vulnerable before the pandemic hit. They are victims of poverty, hunger, violence and poor educational opportunities.
MPP Bosman adds: “As the DA in the Western Cape, we welcome the appointment of Ms Christina Nomdo as the innaugural Commissioner for Children for the Western Cape. We know that Ms Nomdo will act as a voice for the most vulnerable in our province and we look forward to overseeing her collaboration with the Western Cape Government to ensure that families are strengthened to protect children.”
During Child Protection Week, it is imperative to reflect on why the government agencies tasked with ensuring that children are protected and benefit from the help they need fall so severely short. We therefore call on national government to:
- Open all SASSA offices to enable families to apply for relief of distress;
- Open all services at Home Affairs to enable parents to get the needed documents to apply for relief and other forms of support; and
- By prioritizing the opening of Early Childhood Development Centres, government will create an opportunity for many vulnerable parents to return to work.
South Africa remains a violent place for children and we need to ensure that child protection is not just something we think about, but something that translate into a whole of society approach to child protection. Everyone has a duty of care to protect children.
