PRESS STATEMENT BY MINISTER OF JUSTICE, MR DULLAH OMAR ON RECOMMENDATIONS OF NPA JUSTICE SECTORAL WORKING GROUP, PARTICULARLY WITH REGARD TO CHILD ABUSE

There has been a great deal of concern about child abuse, and the Ministry has been accused of failing to respond to representations made by the Child Abuse Action Group.

This is far from the case. The Child Abuse Action Group, with whom I met this morning, has been represented in the Justice Sectoral Working Committee which includes, as part of its brief, the question of child abuse. Although their representatives have not attended all meetings convened, they have at all times been invited to those meetings and have received full documentation and minutes. They are thus fully informed of the progress of the work thus far and have had every opportunity to make their voices heard.

I have therefore been at a loss to understand why the CAAG has, on a number of occasions, stated publicly that they have received no response from me. The fact is that they have received a great deal more than a response. They have been invited to participate in the process itself.

When I met with the CAAG this morning, we pointed out the need for a coherent plan as envisaged through the work of the Sectoral Group. Child abuse is a serious problem requiring proper and considered attention and cannot be dealt with an ad hoc way. We need to look at this problem holistically - both as a social phenomenon and as an issue requiring legal attention.

I also repeated to the CAAG that I have no control over the courts which are independent and that specific complaints or enquiries by organisations should be addressed to the Magistrates Commission.

Finally, I urged the CAAG to continue to participate in the Justice Sectoral Working Committee, to attend meetings and to ensure that they communicate internally so that their members are aware of progress. Aggressive statements to the press are unhelpful in a situation that is currently being addressed and which is, moreover, of serious concern to us all.

I should like to end by saying that we are appalled by the widespread and alarming incidence of this kind of crime, and consider child abuse to be an extremely serious offence. This is why it has been identified as a priority issue on the Justice Sectoral Working Committee's agenda.

Issued by the Minister of Justice. For more information, contact Susan de Villiers at 021-457506 or page 021-215420 code 27989

Background

The NPA Steering Group was established last year with a brief to work towards the major goals for child survival, protection and development as adopted at the World Summit for Children.

The NPA Steering Group established a number of sectoral working groups, each tasked with the development of sectoral goals. The Department/Ministry of Justice represents one of the proposed Sectoral Working Groups responsible for the issue of children in the criminal and civil justice system.

At a workshop on Developing a National Plan of Action for Children in South Africa in February this year, it was decided that the sectoral working group should be composed of representatives from the Departments of Justice, Correctional Services, Welfare and Population Development, the South African Police Service together with relevant non-governmental organisations, including

All working groups must provide the NPA Steering Committee with recommendations.
NGO's represented on the Justice Sectoral Working Group are the National Children's Rights Committee, Black Lawyers Association, Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape, Lawyers for Human Rights, the South African Institute for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of Offenders, Nadel, Child Abuse Action Group, Unicef, the South African National Council for Child and Family Welfare and the Association of Law Societies.

A task team was established at a meeting in July this year and a report submitted on 7 August for the comments and inputs of the Working Group. The task group recommended the terms of reference of the Justice Sectoral Working Committee and recommended, amongst other things, that four smaller task groups should look at:

exploitation, sexual abuse and sentencing This group would look at all forms of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and the sentencing of offenders, including children who themselves are sexual abusers
children's court enquiries This group would look at the training of court officials, court procedures and legal representation of children in court
children and civil justice This group would look at child maintenance, the activities of the Family Advocate, the protection of children of customary unions and the law of guardianship
trafficking in narcotic drugs This group would look at the protection and rehabilitation of children using and trafficking in narcotic drugs

The Child Abuse Action Group chose to work on the task group looking at exploitation, sexual abuse and sentencing.

It was decided that the South African Law Commission should be used as the structure through which recommended legislation can be researched and prepared.

Each of these task groups has now completed its report. These have been set before the Working Group for its consideration. Once the recommendations have been accepted, they will be forwarded to the South African Law Commission.

25 October 1995