| Total
Child Labour |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* The Network
Against Child Labour estimates that 400,000 children are engaged
in child labour. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* A survey noted
that of the 13.4 million children between the ages of 5 and 17,
17.8% were engaged in subsistence farming, 5.3% in services, 0.4%
in manufacturing, 0.1% in transport, 0.1% in informal finance, and
0.05% in construction and mining. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* For the year 2000,
the ILO projects that there will be 0 economically active children between
the ages of 10-14. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* Of the 4.6 million
children between the ages of 10-14 years, 200,000 are child workers.
(US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child
Labour, 1998)
*
The Labour Directorate stated that there were about 200,000 children working
in South Africa in 1997, some as young as five years old. This figure did
not include unpaid domestic workers or children working in the informal
sector. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
*
According to the NGO Network Against Child Labour, an estimated 200,000
children, some as young as 5 years old, work in rural areas, mostly in
the agricultural sector. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* In 1995, there were
0 economically active children between the ages of 10-14. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
*
There are around 800,000 children working in the country. (ABC-CLIO,
Sandy Hobbs et al, Child Labor: A World History Companion, 1999, citing
Duke Linde, Child Labour in South Africa, 1995)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* According
to a survey conducted by Statistics South Africa in 1999, 45% of
children between ages 5 and 17 worked for 1 hour or more per week
in an economic activity, 5 hours or more per week in school labour,
or 7 hours or more in household chores. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* Of the 2 million
children who spent at least 1 hour per week in activities for pay,
profit, or family economic gain, 59% were involved in agriculture
and 33% in trade. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* Child labour is
used on a more regular basis in the informal economy. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
|
| Child
Slavery |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
*
A 1999 survey conducted by Statistics South Africa reported that
up to 2,000 children work to pay off outstanding debts to employers
or obligations to their landlords. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Children from
other countries such as Thailand, Eastern Europe, and China are
being brought to South Africa and sold into sex slavery by criminal
gangs from these countries. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* The
country is a destination point for the trafficking of persons from Mozambique,
Thailand, and other countries. In August there were reports that women
and girls from neighbouring countries, particularly Mozambique, were lured
into South Africa by Nigerian and other organised crime syndicates based
in the country with the promise of jobs and decent wages, and then held
as near-slaves on farms and other enterprises.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* A form of
bonded labour occurs in some regions of South Africa. Here children
are forced to work if they wish to enjoy the privilege of living
with their parents or caregivers.
(ILO-IPEC,
Child Labour In Commercial Agriculture In South Africa, 27-30 August
1996)
|
| Child
Trafficking |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
*
South Africa is a destination country for trafficked persons. (US
Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
*
South Africa is a well-established destination and transit point
for trafficking in women and children for sexual purposes. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* The research conducted by Molo Songololo on "The Trafficking
of Children for the Purposes of Sexual Exploitation" South
Africa reveal some disturbing findings about how children are kidnapped
and trafficked within and across South African borders for commercial
sexual purposes. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* Children are trafficked to the United Kingdom and other
European countries. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* Children from other countries such as Thailand, Eastern
Europe, and China are being brought to South Africa and sold into
sex slavery by criminal gangs from these countries. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* South Africa
is also a transit point for trafficking operations between developing
countries and Europe, the United States, and Canada.
(US
Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
*
The country is a destination point for the trafficking of persons from
Mozambique, Thailand, and other countries. In August there were reports
that women and girls from neighbouring countries, particularly Mozambique,
were lured into South Africa by Nigerian and other organised crime syndicates
based in the country with the promise of jobs and decent wages, and then
held as near-slaves on farms and other enterprises.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Women from Thailand,
a few from Cambodia and China, were being smuggled into the country
for prostitution by Chinese and South African organised crime syndicates.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
|
| Child
Prostitution and
Pornography |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* Estimates
of children in prostitution in South Africa range between 28,000
and 30,000, approximately half of whom are between 10 and 14 years
of age, and half of whom are between 15 and 18. (ILO-IPEC,
Trafficking of Children, The problem and responses worldwide, 2001
citing Molo Songololo, 2000)
* The Network
Against Child Labour estimates that 400,000 children are engaged
in child labour and some of the girls are forced or sold into prostitution
in different parts of the country. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
LOCAL STATISTICS
*
According to the Police Child Protection Unit (CPU) in Johannesburg,
about 28,000 children are engaged in prostitution and approximately
15 new girls between the age of 15 and 18 are arrested every month.
(ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* NGO's estimate
that there are 10,000 children working as prostitutes in Johannesburg
and at least 1,000 in Cape Town. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* As many as 26,000
children are sold for sex in Johannesburg.
(June Kane, Sold for Sex, Aren Ashgate Publising Limited Gower House, 1998)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
*
Child prostitution is a growing problem in metropolitan areas. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
*
About one-fourth of Cape Town's street children are engaged in prostitution.
(ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
*
Reportedly, street boys are lured into prostitution. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
*
Women from Thailand, and a few from Cambodia and China, were being smuggled
into the country for prostitution by Chinese and South African organised
crime syndicates. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Child prostitution is on the rise, primarily in Cape Town, Durban and
Johannesburg. (US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
* An increase in the number of children living on the streets has contributed
to the growing number of child prostitutes.
(EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
* The child sex industry has become increasingly organised, with
children either being forced into prostitution or exploited by their
parents to earn money for the family.
(EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
* South Africa is
a transit zone for international child pornography and prostitution. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Merab Kirmire of ECPAT, 7 August 1998, Sapa African National
Congress)
|
| Children
in Crime |
- |
| Child
Soldiers |
RECRUITMENT
LAWS AND REGULATIONS
* Recruitment is on a voluntary basis and the minimum age is 17 years, but
as the recruit is about to turn 18. Nevertheless, no recruit is deployed
into combat before he/she reaches 18 years of age. (CSUCS,
Africa Report, April 1999, citing Mission of South Africa to the United
Nations, 8 December 1998)
*
The minimum age for conscription is 17 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994)
NOTES
ON GOVERNMENT FORCES
* There are
no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
NOTES
ON PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS
* Violence in Kwa-Zulu
Natal had involved children under-18. (CSUCS,
Africa Report, April 1999)
|
| Domestic
Child Servants |
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
*
Child labourers from Zimbabwe and Mozambique work in the country as domestic
servants. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* There are
unpaid child domestic workers. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
|
Other
Hazardous
Child Labour |
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* Child labourers
from Zimbabwe and Mozambique work in the country on commercial farms,
for the taxi industry, or as domestic servants. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
SPECIFIC SECTORS
* Brick Kilns - Nearly 200,000 children are employed in the brick-making
industry.
(US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
* Commercial
Agriculture - One out of every three child worker in South Africa
was engaged in work related to commercial agriculture, i.e. 57%
of child workers between 10-14 years is related to commercial agriculture.
(ILO-IPEC,
Child Labour In Commercial Agriculture In South Africa, 27-30 August
1996)
* Commercial
Agriculture - In agricultural areas, over 60,000 children in the
10 to 14 age group, and over 63,000 children in the 15 to 17 age
group worked. This represents 11% and 21.2% of children in these
categories respectively. (ILO-IPEC,
Child Labour In Commercial Agriculture In South Africa, 27-30 August
1996)
*
Street Children - Street children are forced to scavenge, begging
and vending. (IWGCL,
Working Children: Reconsidering the Debates, 1998)
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