Union calls for ban on child labour following StatsSA report

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has demanded a complete ban of child labour.

The federation was reacting to a Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) report which stated that 577 000 children in South Africa‚ some as young as seven‚ were working.

The Survey of Activities of Young People‚ 2015‚ release on March 16‚ stated that of the 11.2-million South African children between the ages of seven and 17‚ 577 000 were involved in child labour in 2015‚ down from 779 000 in 2010.

StatsSA defined child labour as work undertaken by children under the age of 18 that is exploitative‚ hazardous or otherwise inappropriate for their age‚ detrimental to their development.

It said about 81 000 of the children appeared to be doing work prohibited by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

The majority of the children were between the ages of 16 and 17. Children in KwaZulu-Natal (10%) were more likely to be working when compared with those from other provinces. Northern Cape (1.2%) had the least number of children who involved in child labour.

Saftu said the report stated that children were not only used for labour but were also deprived of basic rights such as education and proper health.

“This provides further evidence that South African society is losing the most basic moral and humanitarian values. What could be worse than profiteering from the exploitation of the most vulnerable members of our society and condemning them to survive into adulthood without proper healthcare and education‚ which will condemn most of them to years of unemployment and ill-heath‚” Saftu said in the statement.

It said most infringements of children’s rights were found in rural areas.

“The extent to which children were engaged in child labour increases with age”‚ says the report‚ with older children aged 16 and 17 years most vulnerable.”

The report also found that 44 000 girls aged 12 to 17 gave birth during the time the research was done‚ an indication that there was widespread sexual as well as labour abuse.

Saftu said the big question the report raised was why the national and provincial departments of labour‚ social development‚ basic education and others had allowed such high levels of illegal abuse of children to continue and so few of the perpetrators to be prosecuted.

The federation said a crucial question for the unions was to ask how many unemployed adult workers could and should be employed to do the work now being done illegally by these 577 000 children.