The Department of Social Development has published the draft Children\u2019s Third Amendment Bill for public comment.<\/p>\n
The bill, which will also be discussed at the National Child Care and Protection Forum from 18 \u2013 20 July 2018, proposes a number of amendments to the Children\u2019s Act including addressing inconsistencies within the Act, and introducing new definitions.<\/p>\n
The bill is likely to have far reaching impact as it tackles a wide range of topics concerning parenting, children and home life in South Africa.<\/p>\n
According to an attached explanation<\/a><\/strong>, the bill proposes:<\/p>\n BusinessTech looked at some of the biggest changes in more detail below.<\/p>\n Reasonable chastisement and corporal punishment<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest amendment officially introduces section 12A, which deals with the ‘positive discipline’ of children at home.<\/p>\n Under this section any person who has care of a child may not treat or punish the child in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way when disciplining them, and must ensure the child\u2019s right to physical As an extension of this, the common law defence of reasonable chastisement<\/a><\/strong> has been abolished.<\/p>\n Upon being reported for violating this section, the parent must be referred to a prevention and early intervention programme.<\/p>\n When prevention and early intervention services have failed, or are deemed to be inappropriate, and the child\u2019s safety and wellbeing is at risk, a designated social worker must assess the child.<\/p>\n The section also notes that the Department of Social Development must take all reasonable steps to implement education and awareness-raising programmes concerning these new rules.<\/p>\n New definitions and other legal changes<\/strong><\/p>\n The bill introduces and amends a number of formal definitions relating to children and family life in South Africa.<\/p>\n Some of the most notable changes include definitions for genital cutting and mutilation, inter-country adoption, sexual abuse, and social service professionals.<\/p>\n The bill also extend the children\u2019s court jurisdiction to hear applications for guardianship, and addresses the care of abandoned and orphaned children living with family (kinship care).<\/p>\n Unmarried fathers<\/strong><\/p>\n The bill introduces a number of changes to the rights of unmarried fathers.<\/p>\n Specifically in cases where the the father of a child is unmarried to the child’s mother but is:<\/p>\n The family advocate may, in the prescribed manner, issue a certificate confirming that the biological father has automatically acquired full parental responsibilities.<\/p>\n This application must be made by both the mother and father of the child, or after mediation proceedings between the two parents.<\/p>\n The full document is embedded below:<\/p>\n Draft Childrens Amendment Bill<\/a> by BusinessTech<\/a> on Scribd<\/p>\n\n
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\nand psychological integrity.<\/p>\n
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