South African will observe the national day against child labour in the maize farming area of Bothaville in Free State on Tuesday, the department of labour said.

The department said over 500,000 South African children were involved in child labour and minister Mildred Oliphant would use the commemorative event to reflect on government initiatives to halt the growing problem.

A survey on the activities of young people, the results of which were released on 16 March 2017, showed that of the 1.12 million South African children between ages of 7 and 17 years, 577,000 were involved in child labour in 2015, down from 779,000 in 2010. About 81,000 children appeared to be doing work prohibited by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

More boys were engaged in economic activity at 22.3 percent compared to 20.9 percent for girls.

The department said statistics by the International Labour Organization showed that 218 million children worldwide aged between 5 and 17 were in employment. Among them, 152 million were victims of child labour and 73 million worked in hazardous child labour.

Africa has 72.1 million child labourers, while 62.1 million are in Asia and the Pacific, 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in Arab states and 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia.

The department said South Africa had signed a number of protocols as a member of the ILO and in its commitment to eradicate the scourge of child labour, including the Minimum Age Convention 138 of 1973, the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 182 of 1999 and the African Charter of the Rights and Welfare of the Child of 1990.