Parliament strengthens fight against worst forms of child labour

The International Labour Organisation (ILO), which runs a regional programme Towards the Elimination of worst forms of Child Labour (TECL), applauds the Assembly for taking another step along the road to ending exploitation of children.

With tomorrow's vote, South Africa will gain a purpose-built weapon against the scourge of children being used by adults to commit crime. For the first time this form of exploitation will be recognised as a specific offence.

“The new law is a major contribution by South Africa to combating some of the worst forms of child labour and it comes at a time when the wall of silence and indifference to the exploitation of children's labour is beginning to crumble globally,” commented Ms Judica Amri-Makhetha, director of ILO Pretoria.

The seriousness of the practice of using children as instruments in crime was highlighted in the Cape High Court earlier this year in the baby Jordan-Lee Norton murder trial. It emerged that a child (that is, an individual under the age of 18 years) was not only among the group hired by Dina Rodrigues to murder the baby but had been singled out to do the actual killing – a task that he did not finally carry out.

“We know that there is widespread adult involvement in the criminal activities of children. Exact statistics do not exist – not surprisingly, because the adult hand in such matters is often hidden,” says Dawie Bosch, head of TECL.

“Even so, in a large number of criminal trials children and adults stand together in the dock as co-accused. Our research has turned up other cases where children pay the price of prosecution and sentencing, while adult instigators escape without even being charged.”

The Children's Amendment Bill makes it an offence to “use, procure or offer a child” to commit a serious crime. (That is, a crime listed in Schedules 1 and 2 of Criminal Procedure Act.)

This means that an adult perpetrator should usually face two types of charges – the ordinary class of crimes (like robbery, housebreaking or hijacking) and the offence of using a child to commit crime.

“Although the Bill does not make the double offence absolutely explicit, we hope that prosecutors, magistrates and judges will be rigorous in their approach to child crime and alert to the possibility that the child may be the victim of adult exploitation,” Mr Bosch commented.

The ILO has pointed out that the effective use of this new provision would assist South Africa to meet its international commitments to end the worst forms of child labour, in terms of the International Labour Organisation's Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention.

TECL and other children's organisations argued for the Bill to direct judges to recognise that adults who use children in crime also undermine South Africa's efforts to fulfil its international obligations – and to consider this as an aggravating factor in determining sentence. However, the Bill before Parliament today does not include this provision.

The Bill deals with two other practices that are internationally defined as worst forms of child labour.

- The use, procurement or offering of a child for slavery or forms of work similar to slavery, such as forced labour or debt bondage.
- The use, procurement or offering of a child for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation.

These aspects of child labour have been covered to some extent in previous legislation, but the Children's Bill provision strengthens the arm of the judiciary.

While the Basic Conditions of Employment Act prohibits forced labour, TECL believes there is a tendency to see labour legislation as “technical” in nature. The inclusion of a forced labour ban in the Children's Bill drives home its seriously criminal character.

Note: TECL operates under the auspices of the International Labour Organisation and is specifically charged with assisting South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland to meet their commitments in terms of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention.

Released by the ILO through Meropa Communications: