The Network Against Child Labour is incorporated under Section 21 of the Companies Act as an association not for gain - (Reg. 1998/003690/08)

Physical Address	62 Marshall Street, Johannesburg, 2000, South Africa
Postal Address	PO Box 42440, Fordsburg, South Africa, 2033
Telephone	(27-11) 836 9942/3
Facsimile	(27-11) 836 9944
Board Members	Phiroshaw Camay	Co-operative for Research and Education (CORE)
	Peet Human	Gauteng Department of Social Services and Population Development.
	Suchilla Leslie	Individual capacity
	Oupa Mosikare	Operation Hunger
	Florence Nchoe	Johannesburg Institute for Social Services (JISS)
	Astrid Jensen	International Labour Organisation
	Les Sanabria	Gauteng Alliance for Street Children

The Network Against Child Labour exists to end the economic exploitation of children from their labour in whatever form and where it is found.
We believe that children must be free to learn and play to develop their full potential.

1. To bring together organisations and individuals that are concerned with child     labour for a national lobby against child exploitation.
2. To conscientise and educate organisations, the general public and communities     against child exploitation.
3. To provide information and policy guidelines on child labour and related issues     to interested organisations.
4. To organise lobbies for legislation, enforcement mechanisms and social policies,     which are designed to bring about the elimination of child labour.
5. To conduct action-oriented research to expose the problem in our country.
6. To intervene actively or to organise intervention where possible in reported     cases of child labour.

In 1997 the ILO commissioned Stats SA to conduct a national household survey to provide a broad overview of the child labour situation in South Africa. A technical advisory committee (TAC) was set up and consisted of representatives from government departments, the NGO sector, the ILO and UNICEF. The Network Against Child Labour (NACL) played an active role in the work of this committee. The study was called the "Survey of Activities of Young People" (SAYP).

In November 2000 the SAYP results were released but the report was later embargoed. The NACL and Child Labour Intersectoral Group (CLIG) issued media statements repudiating the embargo and the Stats SA statement. Information was drawn out of the SAYP results and a member of the Department of Labour gave a talk at the NACL 2001 AGM. The following is an outline of the main findings of the survey.

In April/May 2001the NACL participated in a workshop in the Office the Child on The Way forward for the SAYP results'.

In view of the continued embargo on the survey reports, in April 2001 Phiroshaw Camay and Jackie Lofell wrote an article entitled 'Child Labour: The mystery of the
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Department of Labour Press Release November 2000.

vanishing survey results: The NACL article was published in “Children First”. The article was subsequently printed as an NACL Occasional Paper.

The NACL appealed repeatedly and regularly during 2000 and 2001 for the release ' of the SAYP report by telephone calls, letters, public workshops and seminars.

The NACL assisted CLIG with a submission to the Inquiry into the current Social Security System in South Africa. The NACL believes that Child Labour will not be eradicated unless an alternative exists for poor children like administering the Child Support Grant regardless of age or having a Universal Basic Income Grant.

In 2001 the NACL produced a booklet entitled "Basic Employment Conditions for Domestic workers" The booklet focused on child labour, especially those involved in domestic work. It emphasised that in terms of the law no child under the age of 15 should work. Everybody must ensure that children are not forced to work and report people who employ underage children to the Department of Labour. The booklet also included the results from the SAYP survey conducted by the government in 1999 on Child Labour.

In 2001 the NACL submitted comments to the law commission on the issue of child labour. NACL involvement is reflected in the recommendations below.

The Commission recommends as follows:

• That, along the lines used in the Kenyan Bill 'employment' be clearly defined so as to overcome present loopholes in labour legislation as it applies to children, and to avoid Clocking survival strategies initiated by children themselves (such as those living on the streets.
  
  

  The 1998 draft of The Children Bill in Kenya recognises the right of the child to protection from economic exploitation and any work which is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education or be harmful to his or her development. Provision is made for regulation of employment of children above the age of 16. These provisions include “any situation in which a child provides labour in exchange for payment”. This covers payment of someone else on the child’s behalf, payment of another person to whom the child has been deemed to be acting as an assistant, the use of a child’s labour for gain by any individual or institution whether or not the child benefits therefrom; and any situation where the child’s labour is contracted by an agent. The Kenya Bill (not yet enacted as at January 2001) provides that a child “Who is engaged in any work likely to harm his strength, education or mental or moral development” is a child in need of care and protection. This may be the basis for the pressing of charges against an offender and / or the issuing of a care or supervision order.

• That the provisions of the BCEA in relation to the minimum age for employment, the prohibition of involvement of children in work which is likely to be harmful to


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This is an excerpt from the Child Care Act Review.

their development, and sectoral determinations which may be made concerning the employment of children in the fields of advertising, sports, artistic or cultural activities, be supported in the comprehensive children's statute.

That there be collaboration between the Departments of Labour, Social Development and Education in the drawing up and implementation of Regulations with regard to child labour.

That, similar to the Brazilian approach, social programmes allowing for educational work by young persons be provided. Thus, work which is carried out within the framework of a programme registered in terms of the Nonprofit Organisations Act and that is designed to promote personal development and vocational training, ought not to be deemed to constitute illegal child labour.



The Statute of the Child and Adolescent (1990) of brazil based on the rights of children and seeks to address all of these in a holistic manner, hence it addresses labour, protective, education and other related issues pertinent to the prevention and elimination of child labour.  Title 1, chapter 5, dealing with the right to vocational training and protection at work, includes the following provisions: - Children aged less than 15 may not work, except as apprentices. -  Work by older adolescents is subject to regulation. - Education is compulsory. -  Apprenticed children over fourteen years have labour and social        security rights. - Various forms of hazardous work are prohibited for adolescents (work between 22h00 and 5h00, and dangerous or heavy work, work which is prejudicial to healthy development: work which interferes with schooling). - Social programmes based on "educational work" are allowed for - this is labour activity in which the pedagogical demands related to the personal end social development of the person being - The adolescent is entitled to vocational training and protection at work

• That involvement of a child in illegal employment or any form of inappropriate or hazardous work be grounds for the opening of proceedings in the Child and Family Court.
• That the Departments of Labour, Social Development, Education, Safety and Security and Justice be required to submit to the Treasury a joint annual estimate of the number of children in each province who are expected to be involved in illegal employment generally, and in the designated "worst forms" of child labour specifically, together with an estimate of the costs of the interventions which will be required for enforcement of the law and rehabilitation
• That the Departments of Labour and Social Development be empowered to make funds available to NGOs to operate programmes for the specific purpose of intervening in child labour and promoting the rehabilitation of children who have been extricated from situations of child labour - such allocations to be coordinated and monitored through the appropriate interdepartmental process.
• That in accordance with the principle of early intervention, all schools be required to identify those children in their area who are not attending school regularly and who are suspected 1o possibty be working, to take appropriate action, where necessary in co-operation with the Departments of Labour and/or Social Development, to ensure their attendance
• That the Department of Education be required to identify schools where excessive use is being made of children as a source of labour for the purpose of cleaning and maintenance tasks, and to ensure that sufficient adults are employed to carry out these tasks.
• That the Departments of Mineral and Energy Affairs, Water Affairs and Forestry, and Land Affairs be required to identify areas which must be given priority for service delivery, in order to free children from excessive involvement in fetching wood and water
• That penalties for the illegal employment of children and the use of any form of exploitative child labour be significantly increased, and provision be made for the payment of the costs of rehabilitation of child workers by offenders.
• That, in compliance with ILO Convention 162, all forms of child slavery and forced or compulsory labour including debt bondage be specifically designated as criminal offences.

• That money or goods acquired through the use of illegal child labour be subject to confiscation by the Assets Forfeiture Unit.





Research on Street Children


In 2001 the NACL in partnership with the Johannesburg Institute for Social services, carried out research funded by the Gauteng Department of Welfare on street children with an emphasis on the Child Labour issue, specifically seeking to find out what kind of labour occurs among these children, and what kinds of services are needed by them. The recommended services are discussed below3.

short term needs
It became obvious that the interviewees required their basic needs i.e. schooling, food, shelter, clothing (especially warm clothing and blankets in winter} to be met. bathing facilities are also non-existent and nedds attention.

Long term needs
1.   Reunifcation Services (for those who have families): the family circumstances should be explored, needs for social work services assessed and the child's return to the family can be facilitated where appropriate. Supervisory services can be conducted in an attempt to ensure that child's needs are met within the family. This will obviously place an additional load on Social Welfare Services, which are already overburdened. this needs to be negotiated with the
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Report - Street Children Study, 2001

Department of Welfare with regard to additional funding so that additional social service workers are hired to deal with the expectation

2.   Schooling: The possibility of a bridging programme as well as skills training programmes for these children at identified schools, needs to be investigated and enrolment at schools needs to be facilitated. This should also directly involve the Departments of Labour and Education.

3.   Shelters: The number of available shelters (Deluding drop-in-s hellers) and its accessibility also warrants an increase. An increase in numbers will also reduce overcrowding in shelters, and make for a better structure and services as well as significantly reduce the risk faced by these children in being out on the streets.

4.   Medical Care: Increased medical care needs to be made available for the children. It is possible that providing training for health personnel at hospitals could reduce the negative attitudes and treatment received by the children.

5.   Public/Community Education: It is necessary for members of the community to become aware of the plight of street dwellers. This will allow street children to avoid manipulation and abuse by community members. Discrimination experienced by street children would also be reduced through such education. Radio talk shows, TV adverts and responsible newspaper articles would also have a role to play in terms of education.

6.   Drug/Alcohol Abuse: The S.A. National Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse needs to be actively involved on an educational, preventative and social work service delivery level. A more concerted effort is required so that the children can avoid being manipulated by drug dealers.

7.   Inter Government Co-operation: There should therefore be intersectora! collaboration between the Department of Education, Department of Labour, Department of Safety and Security, Department of Health and the Department of Welfare in order to address the problem.


Draft Green Paper on Child Labour

In June 2001 the NACL participated in the National workshop on the Draft Green paper convened by CLJG.


Interaction with the media

The NACL has always had and continues to have regular discussions with local journalists about child labour. Journalists often used the NACL as a source of information on child labour.

Education

The NACL agreed also to support the Global Campaign for Education's (GCE) Global Action week.

Financial Statements

 Audited balance sheet as at 31 December 2001

                        Notes                     2001                 2000

                                                         R                       R

Assets

Current assets                                 13 722         151 133

Accounts receivable                              5 496              -

Cash resources                                     8 226         151 133

                                                          13 722         151 133

 

Accumulated funds and liabilities

 Accumulated deficit                         (94 107)       (91 607)

 Current liabilities                              107 829      242 740

Account payable                                     53 736         92 990

Trust funds                                             54 093       149 750

                                                             13 722      151 133