Parliamentary Presentation: Child Labour

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
Presentation to the Parliamentary Labour
Portfolio Committee
Child Labour 13 August 2002
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
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Agenda

• Definition of child labour
• Legislative framework
• Government interventions
• Ratification of ILO Conventions
• DoLs approach to child labour
• Initiatives of the Department of labour

• 7. Children in the Performing Arts
• 8. Education and awareness raising
• 9. Annual plan and budget
• 10. Conclusion

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Definition of child labour

• Child labour is work by children under 18
  which is exploitative, hazardous or otherwise
  inappropriate for their age, detrimental to their
  schooling, social, physical or moral development
  (BCEA Section 43)
• Work should not be limited to work for gain
  but should include chores or household activities
  if such work falls within this definition.

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Legislative framework

• Domestic legislation
• ? The Constitution of South Africa Act 108, 1996
• ? The Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997
  Section 43 (1) prohibits the employment of
  children under 15
• ? The Sexual Offences Act, No 23 of 1957
• ? The South African Schools Act Allows children
  who are 15 or who have completed the 9th grade to
  work, whichever comes first

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Legislative framework contd

• ? The Child Care Act, No 74 of 1983
• ? The Domestic Violence Act, No 116 of 1998
• ? The Film and Publications Act, No 65 of 1996
• ? The Criminal Procedures Act, No 51 of 1997

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Government interventions

• ? Convention on the Rights of the Child 1995
• ? The OAU African Charter on the Rights and
  Welfare of the Child
• ? ILO-Memorandum of Understanding 1998
• ? Ratification of ILO Conventions

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Ratification of ILO Conventions
South Africa has ratified the following
Convention i.r.o childrens issues

• ? Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, No.
  138
• ? Abolition of Forced Labour, No 105 of 1957
• ? Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour,
  No 182 of 1999

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DoLs approach to child labour

• ? Child labour is a very complex phenomenon
• ? Legislation alone cannot eradicate child labour
  
• ? Therefore emphasis is on a multi sectoral
  collaborative strategy with role players such as
  Social Development, Health, Education etc.
• ? Hence participation and involvement in
  structures like Clig, the NPA etc is crucial

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Initiatives of the Department of Labour (DoL)

• ? Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ILO
• ? The Child Labour Inter - sectoral group (Clig)
• ? Enforcement Policy
• ? Survey on the Activities of Young People (SAYP)
• ? Children in the Performing Arts
• ? Education and awareness raising

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Memorandum of Understanding
Signed in 1998 between the ILO/IPEC and the
government of South Africa with the aim of

• ? Making SA a partner in the fight against child
  labour
• ? Enabling SA to receive ongoing cooperation and
  technical support to combat child labour

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The Child Labour Inter - sectoral Group (Clig)

• ? Clig was formed in 1998 by DoL with the aim of
  fighting child labour in a collaborative and
  integrated manner
• ? Clig is a forum under the auspices of the
  national programme of action for the Child (NPA)
• ? DoL acts as the Secretariat and coordinator
• ? Clig is a coalition of key government
  departments, organised labour, organised business
  and NGOs

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Clig contd

• The terms of reference for Clig are
• ? Oversee and facilitate the process of
  eliminating the most harzardous forms of child
  labour
• ? Co ordinate policies and programmes
• ? Create awareness campaigns with regard to child
  labour
• ? Facilitate debate on policy issues

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Clig contd

• ? Monitor progress on the elimination of child
  labour
• ? Encourage and/or facilitate the formation of
  provincial and sectoral structures
• ? Clig structures exist in all provinces working
  in partnership with Provincial Programmes of
  Action (PPAs)

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Enforcement policy

• ? It is internationally accepted that legislation
  alone cannot eradicate child labour.
• ? DoL is the custodian of labour legislation and
  is tasked with implementing a coherent
  collaborative and preventative strategy
• ? Labour inspectors are the enforcement agents

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Enforcement contd

• ? In 2002, the enforcement strategy was reviewed
• ? It was then workshopped with all labour
  inspectors nationally
• ? It is included as a module in the Technikon SA
  training
• ? There was pilot training for Clig structures in
  two provinces during July 2002

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Survey on the Activities of Young People (SAYP),
1999

• ? The purpose was to establish the nature and
  extent of the activities of young people in SA
• ? Statistics South Africa was commissioned to
  conduct the survey
• ? Funding was obtained from the ILO and the
  United States Department of Labour

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Survey contd

• Findings
• ? At time of the Survey there were 13,4 million
  children in SA between the ages of 5 17
• ? 36 of these children were found to be engaged
  in some form of economic activity

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Survey contd
The SAYP identifies the following vulnerable
groups of children/situations where children are
most at risk as a result of being involved in
work activities

• Long periods fetching wood and water for use in
  the family home
• Doing domestic chores in their own homes
• Doing work at school unrelated to study such as
  gardening and cleaning.

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Survey contd

• ? Work in the family business with or without
  pay
• ? Work on commercial farms
• ? Paid domestic work
• ? Work on subsistence farms
• ? Children involved in illegal activities such as
  child prostitution, involved in the drug trade or
  other illegal activities  

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Development of a Programme of Action on Child
Labour (POA)

• ? Identification of forms of child labour
• ? Prioritisation of these forms of child labour
• ? Role definition and clarification
• ? The design, implementation and monitoring of
  programmes
• ? The identification of targets and indicators of
  success
• ? Identification of the requisite human and
  financial resources

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Development of a Programme of Action on Child
Labour (POA)

• Three pronged approach
• ? Analysis of the survey results.
• ? Draft policy discussion document finalised with
  the technical assistance of the ILO in
  consultation with stakeholders NPA, Clig and
  experts in the education, human rights, labour
  and welfare fields
• ? Final draft policy document to be work -shopped
  in all provinces countrywide to obtain inputs
  from our stakeholders

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Children in the Performing Arts (CIPA)

• The BCEA in relation to Convention 138 makes
  provision for investigations into conditions of
  employment into this sector
• An investigation has been completed and looked
  at the following broad issues

? Hours of work ? Contracts ? Night work ? The
supervision of children while on set
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CIPA contd

• ? A report tabling findings of the investigations
  and proposed recommendations have been presented
  to the Employment Conditions Commission (ECC).

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Education and awareness raising

• ? Participation in workshops, seminars and
  conferences
• ? Participation in national days celebrations
• ? DoL Website
• ? Stakeholder database
• ? Print and electronic media
• ? Distribution strategy is in place

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Annual plan and budget for child labour 2002

• ? One year output Programme of action for the
  eradication of child labour developed,
  implemented and monitored
• ? A budget is available for 2002

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Annual plan contd

• ? Development of a POA for SA
• ? Support to all provincial Clig structures
  ensured
• ? Advocacy and distribution strategy in place and
  operational
• ? Inspection blitzes conducted

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Conclusion

• ? The Department of labour takes the issue of
  child labour very seriously
• ? DoL is committed to the eradication of this
  phenomenon
• ? Emphasis is on education, awareness raising and
  enforcement

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
Presentation to the Parliamentary Labour
Portfolio Committee
Child Labour 13 August 2002
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
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