Child Protection Week

What is Child Protection Week?

National Child Protection Week is commemorated annually to raise awareness on the rights of children as articulated in the Constitution and Children's Act (Act No. 38 of 2005).

The campaign is led by the Department of Social Development in partnership with Basic Education.

We need to do our best to protect the most vulnerable in our society, and stop the exploitation of children. Read this for more information on social relief for children in South Africa.

Children in poverty:

UNICEF shows that

• more than half the children in South Africa continue to live below the poverty line (Child Gauge, 2019);
• one third of girls experience some form of violence before the age of 18 (Optimus study 2016); and
• some two-thirds of children eligible for early childhood development (ECD) programmes do not have access to them.

Teenage Pregnancies and GBV:

Research done by the OCHA shows that there has been a 60% increase in the number of teen pregnancies during the National State of Disaster under the COVID-19 lockdown period. The Gauteng Department of Health discovered that more than 23,000 girls aged under 18 gave birth between April 2020 and March 2021 – of which 934 were aged under 14.

Care & Basic Education:

According to UNICEF, 95,000 children in South Africa have lost parents and guardians during Covid-19. This is the highest number of COVID orphans on the continent.

Furthermore, it was reported that school drop-out rates had tripled between March 2020 and July 2021, with approximately 750 000 children out of school.

SASSA grants for Child Care:

Foster child grant (R1 070 per month per child)

Get a grant to take care of your foster child. A foster child is a child who has been placed in your custody by a court as a result of being:

• orphaned
• abandoned
• at risk
• abused
• neglected.

To qualify:

• you must be a South African citizen, permanent resident or refugee
• you and the child must live in South Africa
• the foster child must be legally placed in your care and the child must remain in your care
• the child must be younger than 18.

Care Dependency Grant (R1 980 per month)

To qualify for this grant you must

• be a parent, primary caregiver or a foster parent appointed by the court
• be a South African citizen or permanent resident
• not earn more than R223 200 a year if you are single. Your combined income should not be - - above R446 400 a year if you are married.

The child must:

• be younger than 18 years
• not be cared for permanently in a state institution
• have a severe disability and need full-time and special care.

For more help, contact the following people:

Department of Social Development's 24 hour call center for victims of GBV: 0800 428 428

Childline SA: (0)31-201 2059 / olcadmin@childlinesa.org.za