Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon MECs present, members, comrades and friends, while it is an honour to speak here on behalf of my province, I am doing so with a heavy heart. Last week our province made world news again, after the issue of Baby Tshepang made headlines a few years ago and also against the backdrop of little Buhle, who was kidnapped a week ago by people who gave his mother a lift from Warrenton to Kimberley. Another reason for my heavy heart is the issue of the woman who killed her five children in our province. I think the grim details of this family tragedy will one day be revealed in court but what it underlines is that violence against children remains pervasive and is to be found in all communities and in all settings.
It is true that as a country we inherited a legacy of violence, extreme inequality and social dislocation. On the other hand, a key achievement of postapartheid South Africa has been the establishment of a progressive legal framework and adoption of policies that aim to protect children and guarantee their rights to social services. The reality is that in spite of all our collective efforts in our province, 287 cases of neglect, abandonment, sexual abuse and physical abuse of children were still reported in the past year. It is to the credit of the province that we rendered services to 22 406 orphans and vulnerable children, and that no fewer than 16 000 children in the province are in foster care. As a mother, a parent, a community leader and a political activist, I can only ask: Where will it end? When will it all end? Does the biblical injunction not call on us to tend the weakest among us? We should at all times be working together to protect our children.
Previous speakers already mentioned that we need a multisectoral approach, partnerships between government and civil society, and co-operation between all spheres of government, particularly since the challenges facing children increasingly include poverty, unemployment, child abuse and exploitation, as well as the loss of a support system within families. Growing up in a rural community ...
Ek wil s omdat ek van 'n plaas af kom, weet ek dat in die dae toe ons grootgeword het, het almal na almal se kinders omgesien. My kind was jou kind, en almal het saamgestem dat hulle almal verantwoordelik was vir hulle kinders. [I would like to say that, because I grew up on a farm, I know that in my childhood everybody took care of one another's children. My child was your child, and everyone agreed that together they were responsible for one another's children.]
Unfortunately, in many of our communities today, we have lost our way. We have gained political freedom, but we seem to have lost our humanity. We have made it easier for abusers in our midst to flourish, for example when both parents are constantly in a drunken stupor. That brings me to one of the issues that is prevalent in our province, that of foetal alcohol syndrome. All of us know about foetal alcohol syndrome. It is a condition that children suffer from as a consequence of mothers using alcohol during pregnancy.
The Northern Cape department of social development, or the Northern Cape government, funds 39 Isolabantwana and Neighbour Helping Neighbour programmes, with a total of 439 volunteers who render awareness and prevention programmes on child protection. These volunteers receive a stipend of R750 per month, and funding is provided for awareness programmes. The department, or the government, also funds eight children's homes in the province, including the Kinderherberg Trust in Kamieskroon, Bright Lights in Pofadder, Tsholofelo in Danilskuil, Jannie Roux in Barkly West, Sinothando, Kestell Kinderhuis, as well as the Christina Kiddie and Helen Bishop Homes in Kimberley. We are also funding the Thusong centre in Kimberley, a centre that was founded by women who saw the need for children working and living on the street to be provided with shelter.
Like it has on so many aspects of our lives, the HIV/Aids pandemic also has an impact on children, resulting in more and more child-headed households. The increasing number of deaths of parents and caregivers compromises the care and protection of children. Children are either left to fend for themselves or are left in the care of relatives or grandparents who themselves are either too ill or too old to cope. These children become vulnerable and may be predisposed to abusive behaviour because of their vulnerability. In the province, we have rolled out the Isibindi Project. It is a child protection programme for children and families infected with and affected by HIV/Aids. No fewer than 5 816 children under the age of 13 years received services from this programme last year, while 1 605 youths and 619 families also benefited.
The services are rendered by trained child and youth care workers and include caring for children infected with and/or affected by HIV/Aids, access to documents to ensure that applications for grants and pensions are submitted, family preservation, enrolling children in school, empowering children with life skills, and stipends for staff empowered in the programme. Although there is still a lot that needs to be done, the programme was implemented in the communities of the Xun, the Khwe, Greenpoint, Donkerhoek, Lerato Park, Soul City, Colesberg, Paballelo and Port Nolloth. Chairperson, you will know that some of these communities count among the poorest in our province.
As can be seen, the province is continually committing itself to rendering holistic, integrated services for the protection of children. Research in South Africa and internationally indicates that the early years of childhood are critical for development. Early childhood development, ECD, aims to protect the rights of children so that they can develop independently and realise their full potential. It is an integrated process whereby children, from birth to schoolgoing age, develop physically, mentally, spiritually and morally. This phase is therefore the most vulnerable and most important phase for overall development in a person's lifespan.
The challenge for government is to break the cycle of poverty and make sure that those who are underprivileged have access to basic stimulation, development and education. Early childhood services remain key in fighting poverty. Our department in the province is funding 436 ECD facilities, benefiting 21 670 children. In turn, 174 practitioners who have obtained a National Qualifications Framework, NQF, level 4 qualification are also paid a stipend of R1 320 per month, as part of our job creation strategy, thus boosting the socioeconomic profile of poverty-stricken areas.
As the MEC for environmental affairs, I would really be failing in my duty if I didn't say anything about the issue of the environment. Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa guarantees that we must have sustainable natural resources, protecting the rights of children to a clean and healthy environment for the benefit of their future, and thus we have the responsibility to ensure that there is a clean environment conducive to the wholesale development of our children.
We should at all times be working together. We need a holistic approach, a programme of action to turn the tide of hope and to protect our children. We need to improve our monitoring and reporting on child protection violations. Letting matters slide because the perpetrator is known to us - sometimes it is family - is just not good enough. We need to consciously mobilise the necessary commitment, expertise and resources from all sectors in our society to ensure that the child protection system works. We need to stand up and challenge social acceptance of violence, as seen in many of our township communities.
As ons s my kind of jou kind is my kind, dan het ons almal 'n verantwoordelikheid om te s: Van nou af sal ons seker maak dat ons almal die geringstes onder ons - ons kinders, ons toekoms - beskerm en bewaar. [If we say that my child or your child is my child then all of us have a responsibility to say: From this day on we will ensure that we protect and treasure the smallest amongst us - our children, our future.]