Parliamentary Presentation: Child Labour

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
Presentation to the Joint Monitoring Committee on
the Improvement of the Quality of Life and Status
of Children, Youth and Disabled Persons 01
November 2002
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
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Agenda

• Definition of child labour
• Legislative framework
• What has been achieved?
• Development of a Programme of Action
• Ratification of ILO Conventions
• Enforcement Policy
• Short term goals
• Education and awareness
• Annual plan budget
• 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 Child Care Act, No 74 of 1983
• ? 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 Sexual Offences Act, No 23 of 1957
• ? 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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What has been achieved (1)

• 1995 SA ratified the UN Convention on the Rights
  of the Child this Convention sets the framework
  to protect and develop children
• 1996 The Constitution provided for the
  protection of children against exploitative and
  hazardous work practices
• 1997 The BCEA was promulgated. This Act
  prohibits the employment of children below the
  age of 15
• ? 1998 DoL the ILO signed a Memorandum of
  Understanding formalising their relationship iro
  funding and technical expertise
• ?Ratification of ILO Conventions

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What has been achieved (2)

• 1998 DoL facilitated the formation of the Child
  Labour Intersectoral Group (Clig) with the aim of
  fighting child labour in a collaborative and
  integrated manner

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Clig (1)
? Clig is a coalition of key government
departments, organised labour, organised
business and NGOs ? Clig is also a sub committee
of the National Programme of Action (NPA) ?
DoL acts as the Secretariat and coordinator for
all Clig activities
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Clig (2)

• The terms of reference for Clig are
• To oversee and facilitate the process of
  eliminating the most hazardous forms of child
  labour
• To coordinate policies and programmes
• To create awareness campaigns with regard to
  child labour
• To facilitate debate on policy

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Survey (1)

• ? 1999 The Survey on the Activities of Young
• People
• ? 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 (2)

• Findings
• At the 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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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
Survey (3)

• 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 (4)

• 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, drug trafficking or other
  illegal activities

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Development of a Programme of Action on Child
Labour (POA) (1)

• ? 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) (2)

• 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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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 Forced Labour, No 105 of
  1957
• ? Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour,
  No 182 of 1999

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Enforcement policy (1)

• ? 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 (2)

• ? In 2002, the enforcement strategy was reviewed
• ? It was then work - shopped with all labour
  inspectors nationally
• ? It is included as a module in the Technikon SA
  training

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Short term goals (1)

• Children in the Performing Arts
• 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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Short term goals (2)

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

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Short term goals (3)

• Training on child labour
• In June 2002, DoLs Child Labour Team embarked on
  provincial training for its social partners
  within Clig
• Five provinces have trained so far
• Training will be finalised in November

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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 -
2003
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? One year output Programme of action for the
eradication of child labour developed,
implemented and monitored

• ? A budget is available for 2002 - 2003

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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
• ? 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
• Emphasis is on education, awareness raising and
  enforcement

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
Presentation to the Joint Monitoring Committee on
the Improvement of the Quality of and Status of
Children, Youth and Disabled Persons
01November 2002
? ? END ? ?
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR
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