'No excuse for using child labour': Cyril Ramaphosa

Child labour constitutes abuse and prevents children from getting an education and other developmental opportunities, President Cyril Ramaphosa said. .

Children are protected by the constitution from neglect, abuse and degradation and businesses cannot justify advancing their interests at the expense of children’s rights, Ramaphosa told delegates at the opening ceremony of the fifth global conference on the elimination of child labour recently. 

“There should be no excuse, explanation or justification for using child labour,” said Ramaphosa. “SA’s constitution advances the rights of every child to be protected from exploitive labour practices. This includes not being permitted to perform work or services that are age-inappropriate.

“Such labour practices rob children of their childhood. They deny them the opportunity to be explorers, and learners, to develop and fulfil their potential. They deny them the opportunity to play, to just be children,” he added.  

Ramaphosa said depriving children of education and other developmental opportunities only serves to perpetuate the cycle of poverty. He expressed concern about children who work on farms in exchange for the right to live there with their families, and children who are bought and sold for sex.

“No economy can consider itself to be at the forefront of progress if its success and riches have been built on the backs of children,” said Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa said high unemployment and poverty threaten efforts to root out child labour. He said child and other grants were some of the solutions that should be explored to end exploitive labour.