CHILDREN’S ACT: UPDATE ON PROPOSED NEW AMENDMENT BILL

CHILDREN’S ACT: UPDATE ON PROPOSED NEW AMENDMENT BILL

• 29 August 2024
• Social Development
• SA Legal Academy

The Department of Social Development has been tasked with drafting a Children’s Amendment Bill to address the issues in clauses removed from the 2020 Bill by the previous Parliament. This is according to a media statement from the National Assembly’s Social Development Committee, which has decided not to attempt proceeding with the Bill’s preparation itself. The clauses were removed when gaps in the Bill’s pre-tabling drafting process became apparent.

Apparently, some of the issues affected by the removal of these clauses ‘require extensive policy development’ in the light of matters arising after the original drafting process. They include:

• the ‘safe abandonment of children’
• corporal punishment
• the rights of unmarried fathers, and
• children’s right to privacy on digital platforms.

The 2020 Children’s Amendment Bill eventually passed by Parliament in December 2022 focused on foster care – responding to a 2011 Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) ruling requiring ‘a comprehensive legal solution’ to foster care provision and administration ‘challenges’. Although the Bill was signed into law the same month, nearly a year was allowed to pass before a presidential proclamation was gazetted commencing most of its provisions.

The committee media statement notes that, in preparing the new Bill, the ‘substantive submissions and proposals made during the previous Parliament’s public participation process will be considered.

• committee media statement
• committee report on Children’s Amendment Bill, explaining reasons for removal of clauses (page 4 of parliamentary papers) 
• SA Legal Academy report on the 2022 Children’s Amendment Act’s commencement

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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