An international campaign to stop the beating of children has urged South African MPs not to bow to pressure against a Bill that bans spanking.
Hitting children was ”plainly unconstitutional”, the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children said on Monday.
The campaign last week issued a report saying a total of 19 states worldwide had now banned all beating of children, and a further 17 had publicly committed themselves to doing so.
”South Africa is near to becoming the first African country to fulfil its human rights obligations to children by giving them the same protection as all other family members have from being hit and hurt,” campaign coordinator Peter Newell said.
”Surely the African National Congress [ANC] is not going to defend the existing inequality of protection for children — which is so plainly unconstitutional and stands in the way of reducing all forms of violence in South African society?”
Parliament’s social development portfolio committee last week postponed deliberations on the Children’s Amendment Bill after members of the ANC’s parliamentary caucus objected to the ban.
The committee has agreed on all the other clauses of the Bill.
Last week’s report by the global initiative contained a message from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, urging an end to corporal punishment.
”Millions of the world’s children still suffer from humiliating acts of violence and these violations of their rights as human beings can have serious and lifelong effects.
”Violence begets violence and we shall reap a whirlwind. Children can be disciplined without violence that instils fear and misery,” said Tutu. — Sapa