A critical period for development in a child’s life is from birth to five years of age. During this period a foundation is laid for physical, cognitive, emotional and social growth, so that children can learn and thrive. It is therefore crucial that we continue to speed up the rollout of enrolment of children in pre-schools, particularly in underserviced communities to ensure that we build a foundation for their future.
Human trafficking is a global problem and a form of modern day slavery. It affects millions of people around the world and the majority of victims are women and children. It often results in the exploitation of girls and women mainly, as well as boys and men where victims are unable to escape from their trafficker. Victims are coerced into forced labour, sexual exploitation, servitude or slavery-like practices, removal of body parts and forced marriages.
Every day our country’s socio-economic landscape is changing for the better with government’s dedicated investments in social infrastructure. We have been on a journey of expanding our social infrastructure for the benefit of all citizens.
Living in modern day, democratic South Africa it is often easy to forget about our fractured past and the real impact it still has on lives today. Although we have come a very long way in a reasonably short space of time, we were never going to erase hundreds of years of oppression overnight.
The spate of abuse and killings of children such as the brutal murder and mutilation last year of six-year-old Tshiamo Rabanye and his five-year-old friend Mduduzi Zulu in Johannesburg brings into sharp focus the level of violence that threatens our children.
On 24 May 1994, the newly elected democratic President of South Africa Nelson Mandela, stood up in Parliament in his first State of the Nation Address and committed his government to the following:
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