A measure of last resort? Child offenders and life imprisonment - Carina du Toit

The main principle when sentencing children is that imprisonment should be a measure of last resort and only for the shortest appropriate period of time. However, contrary to international and foreign law in this regard, South Africa continues to sentence children to life imprisonment. The aim of this article is to contrast our current sentencing practices with regard to life imprisonment for children, with the sentencing principles set out in South African common law and in international law. Furthermore, the article sets out the negative effects of a mandatory life sentence in terms of the minimum sentences legislation.
From: SA Crime Quarterly 17, September 2006, pp. 13-18

When do parents go too far? - Bernard Bekink

Are South African parents still allowed to chastise their children through corporal punishment in their private homes?

With the commencement of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996, the focus of the private law has increasingly shifted from parents to children. This has not only been the case under South African law but also according to International Law. According to this new legal paradigm, many calls have been made to abolish all forms of corporal punishment by parents of their children. There seems to be wide consensus that the common law authority of reasonable and moderate chastisement has become irreconcilable within a modern value orientated constitutional dispensation. Notwithstanding the fact that political powers are undecided on whether to prohibit all forms of corporal punishment on children and that society is not informed or trained on alternative educational measures, it is submitted that the application of corporal chastisement, even in the private family environment, has become unconstitutional. Such a form of punishment should thus be declared invalid and relegated to a relic of our legal past.
From: South African Journal of Criminal Justice 19(2). 2006, pp. 173-191

Assistance needed for the integration of orphaned and vulnerable children - views of South African family and community members - M Freeman & N Nkomo

Guardianship within families is often regarded as the most viable and preferred option for orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC). However, this will place a considerably increased burden on the new caregivers of these children. This study examines whether assistance to prospective families would incline them towards incorporating children and, it so, what would act as ‘threshold’ incentives for them. Adults (N=1 400) in diverse locations and of various ‘relational proximity’ to children were interviewed in three high HIV/AIDS prevalence provinces in South Africa. Close relatives were more inclined to take in children and would generally require lower levels of assistance than more distanced adults. Nonetheless, for most poor families, no matter their relation to the child, help is critical. More distanced families, friends and strangers also showed a strong willingness to incorporate children – provided they receive sufficient help. For all categories, the greater the assistance the more likely they would be to take in children. While direct financial assistance was important, assistance with education related costs and having a trained and caring person come in ‘now and then’ to help were also significant factors. The age and HIV status of the child were viewed as important intervening factors in deciding whether or not to take in a n additional child/ren by some people.
From: Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS 3(3). November 2006, pp. 503-509