Philippa Garson
EVERY day, thousands of children rise before daybreak to begin an=20 arduous working day. Whether it is on farms, in coalyards, on streets=20 selling newspapers, hawking vegetables or prostituting, children are=20 labouring all over the country. The occasional case of abuse of working children may reach the media, but=
for the most, the plight of these children goes unnoticed.=20 The draft Child Care Amendment Bill, due to be published shortly, aims to=
put a stop to this =D1 except in the entertainment industry =D1 and puts in=
place mechanisms for monitoring and enforcement of the law. Under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the existing Child=20 Care Act of 1983 (as amended in 1991), the employment of children under=20 15 years is prohibited, but employers or groups of employers may apply to=
the Welfare Minister for exemption. This loophole, and the absence of any=
effective policing, have contributed to a situation where child labour is a=
common and accepted practice, particularly on farms. The Network Against Child Labour, comprising 30 organisations, has been=20 lobbying to close the loophole and bring an end to legalised child labour,=
and has been pivotal in drafting the proposed amendments. The deadline=20 for public comments on the changes is September 11, after which the Bill=20 will go to Cabinet for further discussion. Comments Jackie Loffell of the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society: =D2The=
bill gives a stronger legal position to the prohibition of child labour tha=
exists in other developing countries. But the provision will have to go han=
in hand with other strategies, including a proper social security system, f=
and compulsory education and anti-poverty strategies so that families=20 won=D5t have to choose between starvation and sending their children out to=
The farming community is far from pleased with the proposed amendment=20 and the South African Agricultural Union (SAAU) is lobbying for child=20 labour to be allowed on farms under specified conditions. The union believes farmers should be able to use the labour of children=20 during school holidays, with full consent of both the child and his or her=
parents, for the same pay as their parents receive and for no more than 25=
hours per week during holidays and 10 hours per week during school term. Chairman of the Transvaal Agricultural Union=D5s labour commitee, Lourie=20 Bosman, says: =D2We=D5re talking of the 12 to 15-year-old doing light work=
during harvesting, weeding, hoeing, vegetable cropping and sorting.=20 During vacations, children have nothing to do. Their parents want them to=
do this work.=D3 =D2We are not pleading for child labour as a source of labour. But the=20 children are out there and they are working. We believe the minister could=
give exemptions,=D3 says Kobus Kleynhans, chief director of general and=20 social affairs for the SAAU. =D2We=D5ll get better results if we regulate r=
than prohibit child labour and an outright prohibition will be more of a=20 problem to the government than the farmers.=D3 The SAAU claims that only=20 seven percent of child labour occurs on farms, according to figures release=
by the International Labour Organisation in 1987, which estimated that 800=
000 children in total were working in the country.=20
No current statistics are available to discredit the SAAU=D5s claims, but=
children=D5s organisations and farmworkers=D5 unions believe the use of chi=
labour on farms is far more prevalent and abusive than the SAAU claims it=
to be. They report cases where children are taken out of school to work=20 during harvesting; often paid next to nothing; forced to work long hours,=
and often coerced to do so with the threat of their parents=D5 dismissal=20 hovering over them if they, or their parents, refuse. While welcoming the proposed prohibition of child labour, the=20 Farmworkers=D5 Resource and Research Project remains unconvinced that=20 new legislation will change conditions on the farms while =D2farmworkers=20 remain rightless, given the specific power relations between the farmer and=
the labourers,=D3 says co-ordinator Abie Ditlhake. The difficulties current=
faced by those attempting to unionise farmworkers bear this out, says=20
=D2South African agriculture is heavily reliant on cheap labour and childre=
are part of this,=D3 says Ditlhake. =20 Many believe that bringing farm schools under state control =D1 as proposed=
by the Education Review Committee =D1 is the key to the abolition of child=
labour on farms. Certainly, the introduction of free and compulsory=20 education for all will go some way towards ending the practice generally. Department of Education figures from 1994 show that only six percent of=20 the 482 228 children in farm schools are in secondary school. Most farm=20 schools offer primary education only. Of the 5 500 farm schools=20 countrywide, only 22 provide secondary education. And, with an estimated=20 six million dependents living on farms, most children, evidently, are not=
even in primary schools. Clearly, the system doesn=D5t work, says Adele Gordon from the Centre for=
Continuing Education. Despite the fact that some farmers provide good=20 education, generally =D2children are not in the schools; there is no delive= ry=D3. =20 The committee recommends that negotiations take place at district level to=
transfer the schools from the farmers=D5 domain to that of the education=20 department. =D2The under-provision of education facilities in rural areas, =
the fragmentation of facilities resulting from the different policies follo=
by former departments, indicate that education provision must be=20 integrated and rationalised at district level in order to optimise resource=
recommends the committee.