The Democratic Alliance on Wednesday called on government to fast track the implementation of the Child Protection Register to prevent people convicted of crimes against children to work with minors in any capacity.
"We need to ensure that our children are protected as much as possible from monsters preying on them," spokesperson Mike Waters said.
The Child Protection Register (CPR), contained in the Children's Act that was passed last year, is a facility to register offenders of certain crimes - such as rape - which make them unsuitable to work with children.
The CPR that is currently implemented only registers children that are or have been under investigation in relation to abuse, neglect or exploitation.
The new CPR would protect children from former offenders, as there was no such registration system in South Africa at present, Waters said.
"I don't know why government is delaying its implementation," he said.
Waters referred to several cases in the Western Cape where schools employed men who had been convicted of rape.
"While our children are experiencing high levels of violence that, for children, are unheard of in countries not at war, we have legislation that could help protect them sitting on the government's shelves gathering dust," he said.
In March this year a report on school violence by the SA Human Rights Commission revealed that more than a fifth of sexual assaults of young people occurred while they were in school.
In the report, the Western Cape education department said that on average there were between one and four cases a month against teachers for sexual assault or harassment of students. - Sapa