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South Africa is currently experiencing extreme public violence, and everyone is trying to make sense of this. Some blame the jailing of our former President, Jacob Zuma. Others point to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions that have exacerbated high unemployment and food insecurity. Still others bemoan a lack of law and order. But we should be asking ‘what does all of this mean for children, and the future of our country?’

Save the Children is gravely concerned about the safety of children during the civil unrest in South Africa following the reported killing of a 15-year-old boy in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, among the protesters.

Save the Children South Africa (SCSA) is dismayed to learn of the incident in which an Eastern Cape mother allegedly sold her newborn twins for R50 a day to support a drug addiction. As this case was brought to the attention of authorities through a tip-off, SCSA also applauds the community for its awareness and action.

In the past few months there has been a recurrence of protests across South Africa’s universities over free education. We see the headlines; we hear the voices on the news. I am in no way diminishing the importance of this topic but I do want to draw our attention to those that are unseen and unheard. Those who do not get to protest. Those who are not eligible for university entry because they got lost from the education system along the way.

April 30 marks the International Day of Action to End All Corporal Punishment of Children. As part of building global momentum to end all forms of violence against children (as captured in Sustainable Development Goal 16.2), Save the Children South Africa (SCSA), alongside the End Violence Global Partnership, is encouraging individuals, government, and organisations to commit to ending corporal punishment against children. In South Africa, corporal punishment is already prohibited by law both in the school and home settings. However, it is still practiced in some of our schools and homes.

Although the right to birth registration is entrenched in the constitution of South Africa, it is estimated that each year about 100 000 children are not registered at birth in South Africa and 86% of undocumented children in our education system are South African. Without a birth certificate, most schools turn these children away.

Save the Children South Africa (SCSA) recently launched the Advisory Board. A panel of highly-influential individuals set on making a difference for children in South Africa by using their connections, voices and positions to do so. We are excited about the opportunities this new venture will bring us all and how it will shape the way we work with each other and our partners on the ground.

Save the Children South Africa (SCSA) calls on the Department of Basic Education to take tough action against the Principal of the Mbilwi Secondary School in Sibasa, Limpopo. Preliminary findings of the South African Human Rights Commission, have revealed that he failed to take appropriate action after the family of the late Lufuno Mavhanga alerted him to the bullying incident.

Save the Children South Africa’s CEO Steve Miller has been appointed as a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children. The Global Partnership and Fund to End Violence Against Children were launched in July 2016 by the UN Secretary-General. The Partnership is the only global entity focused solely on Sustainable Development Goal 16.2: ending all forms of violence against children (VAC) by 2030.