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Today I will be writing to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities (WCPD), Ms Dorothy Ramodibe, to request that she calls the Minister of WCPD Lulu Xingwana to report to the committee and explain what steps her department will take to address the damning findings in a United Nations Children’s Fund Report.

Reports indicate that the yet to be released document titled “A Programme of Cooperation between government and Unicef for 2013 to 2017’’ highlights startling statistics about the state of children’s lives in South Africa. With a child population of 19 million, more than 60% live in poverty.

South Africa has a number of policies and pieces of legislation aimed at protecting and promoting the rights of our children, including the Children’s Act of 2005 and the Social Assistance Act of 2004. Extracts from the report, however, seem to indicate that we are failing our children through poor implementation.

We have a whole ministry in place that is responsible for monitoring and coordinating policies aimed at protecting and promoting the rights of women, children and people with disabilities across government departments and ensuring that key policies are implemented. This department should be leading the campaign in demanding that more is done to protect our children.

As a nation, we are failing our children as they continue to suffer violence, abuse and exploitation. Drastic intervention and commitment is needed to ensure that every child is given the opportunity to lead a valuable life.

It is time for Minister Xingwana to up her game and show us that she is capable of improving the lives of our children. She must show us that her department can take strategic leadership in ensuring that children’s rights are being protected and promoted.