Johannesburg - Government on Tuesday expressed concern over a reported increase in child prostitution, particularly in the Free State.
“We call on the law enforcement agencies to urgently look into the matter,” acting government spokeswoman Phumla Williams said in a statement.
“These girls do not belong to the streets, but instead should be in school and be cared for and loved by their parents.”
Earlier, it was reported that some Free State parents were sending their children to the streets to earn an income to help feed their families.
In some areas, child prostitution was apparently a “normal occurrence”.
Williams said government echoed Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe's call to South Africans to stop using poverty as an excuse to commit crime.
She said government condemned these actions.
Police and courts were empowered under the Domestic Violence Act, Sexual Offences Act, and Children's Act to arrest, prosecute, and convict perpetrators of violence against women and children.
Sapa
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