Johannesburg - The safety of children in Gauteng has been brought into question after it was revealed that at least 1 339 cases of child abuse were reported to the Gauteng Department of Social Development between January 2020 and April 2021.
Gauteng MEC for Social Development, Morakane Mosupyoe, in response to questions by the DA’s Refiloe Nt’sekhe, tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL), revealed that there were 1339 cases of child abuse reported to the department in the 15-month period.
The MEC further revealed that of these cases, 656 were sexual abuse cases, 287 physical abuse cases, neglect cases totalled 220, emotional abuse cases totalled 160 and 13 cases were of abandonment. There was also one child labour and one child trafficking case reported, Mosupyoe revealed.
Nt’sekhe said the safety and future of Gauteng’s children was under threat as the department tasked with the ensuring their safety failed.
“The DA in Gauteng is appalled that 1339 cases of child abuse have been reported in the province, yet the Gauteng Department of Social Development constantly underspends and underperforms on programmes meant to strengthen families, as well as child and protection services,” she said.
Nt’sekhe said that the numbers were sad and worrying considering that the department had allegedly underspent by R300 million on Programme Three: Children and Families for the 2020/21 financial year.
The DA Gauteng spokesperson for social development further accused the department on underperforming and failing to meet its target on the programme for the fourth quarter of the 2020/21 financial year.
“The following targets were not fully achieved: families participating in parenting programmes, reunification programmes, families receiving crisis intervention services, reuniting family members with their families, providing psychosocial support services to children in need of care and protection, and foster care placement,” she said.
The DA will be writing to the GPL’s Social Development committee chairperson, Refilwe Kekana, to summon Mosupyoe and the head of department to account to the committee for these failures.
Miranda Jordan, the director of Women and Men Against Child Abuse, however, questioned the accuracy of the figures the MEC revealed.
“When Covid-19 started, we had huge problems getting hold of social workers to report cases to. When Form 22s needed to be submitted, this was very difficult as there was no one to send them to and receive them so I am not sure they were all registered,” she said.
Jordan said that the sector and Nt’sekhe should be concerned about the low number of cases recorded.
“I am sure more were reported, what happened to those?” she asked.
Earlier this year, Unicef said a third of girls in South Africa experienced some form of violence, often from someone they knew.
The Star