By Thanduxolo Jiyane.
Johannesburg, 03 June 2025 – As South Africa enters National Child Protection Week (29 May – 5 June 2025), the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund warns that the annual observance must move beyond symbolic reflection and translate into concrete, urgent action to safeguard the country’s most vulnerable citizens—its children.
The latest crime statistics released by the South African Police Service (SAPS) for the third quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year (October to December 2024) paint a grim picture:
- 273 children were murdered
- 480 were victims of attempted murder
- 2,164 suffered assaults with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm
These are not just numbers. They are young lives cut short, futures stolen, and families shattered.
“These figures are not abstractions, “says Dr Linda Ncube-Nkomo, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.
“They are children with names, birthdays, families, and dreams that will never be realised. We are witnessing not only a rise in violence, but the quiet unravelling of our nation’s promise to protect its most vulnerable. This is not a moment for statements. It’s a moment for decisive, collective action.”
These are not isolated tragedies. They form a mosaic of systemic failure, a consequence of deep inequality, weak protective systems, and a social contract under strain.
“The law may be progressive on paper,” says Refilwe Mokoena, Programme Manager for Child Safety and Protection at the Fund. “But in practice, the system continues to fail children. A recent report by the Teddy Bear Foundation found that of over 5,000 reported child abuse cases between 2019 and 2024, only 4% led to convictions. This tells us what we already know: children are being re-traumatised by a justice system that is ill-equipped to protect them.”
According to the Child Poverty Study released by the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund in November last year, violence against children remains one of the most devastating and preventable challenges facing South Africa. The report highlights that this crisis is not only a moral failing but an economic one too, with the cost of violence against children estimated to be between 2.3% and 6% of the country’s GDP.
Despite the existence of protective legal frameworks such as Section 28 of the Constitution, which enshrines the rights of every child, these safeguards are routinely undermined in homes, schools, and communities. The report calls for urgent and collective responsibility, stressing that parents, caregivers, neighbours, and educators all hold the power to interrupt the cycle of harm and build a safer, more nurturing environment for every child.
The problem, according to the Fund, is not technical. It is structural. Children are expected to speak up, to testify, to prove harm, often with little to no support. The system is not just broken, it is fundamentally failing children, especially in poor and marginalised communities.
The Time for Symbolism Has Passed
NMCF’s Position: An Integrated, Locally Rooted Response
As the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, we have never accepted that violence against children is inevitable. For nearly 30 years, we have worked in partnership with communities, community-based organisations, and frontline organisations to challenge it, not just through services, but through shifting systems.
We do not parachute in and out. We collaborate. We listen. And we prioritise children in under-resourced, hard-to-reach areas who are most affected by systemic violence.
Our lifecycle approach begins in early childhood, continues through adolescence, and extends into youth economic empowerment and family strengthening. Together with our teams and partners, we create safe spaces, offer psychosocial support, train child advocates, and lobby for structural change.
And yet, despite our efforts, we cannot hold the line alone. Community work cannot succeed in the face of non-responsive policing, chronic state failure, and persistent impunity. Institutional collapse doesn’t just make our work more difficult; it often actively undermines it.
This Is Not Solely a Government Problem
We must be clear. The crisis of violence against children is not the responsibility of the Department of Social Development alone. Nor is it the sole remit of non-profits and NGOs. It is not a matter for parents or schools or for faith-based communities in isolation. It is everyone’s responsibility. Child protection is a collective endeavour. And child harm is a collective failure.
In light of this, the Fund joins others in calling for a national, cross-sectoral response, anchored in the following priorities:
- Strengthen the Justice System
Adequately resource SAPS and the judiciary to prioritise child protection. Specialised units, trauma-informed prosecutors, and fast-tracked cases are not luxuries — they are essentials.
- Invest in Mental Health Services
Violence and trauma are destroying the well-being of a generation. A national child mental health strategy — adequately funded, professionally staffed, and community-embedded — must be an urgent policy.
- Rebuild Community Infrastructure
Community-Based Organisations (CBOs), youth centres, and after-school programmes are frontline protection services. Their funding must be ring-fenced and sustained. Civil society cannot continue to subsidise the state’s abdication.
- Enforce Existing Laws
South Africa does not lack policy. It lacks will and resourcing. Child protection plans must be tied to budgets. Performance indicators must be published and accountability must be enforced.
- Build a National Culture of Care
Awareness weeks are important. But they cannot be the sum of our efforts. We need year-round campaigns, in every language, every province, and every classroom, to change how children are seen, valued, and protected.
Children should not have to die for their lives to be seen as meaningful. They should not have to scream to be heard. And they should not have to survive state neglect to thrive.
“We must stop being shocked. We must stop being surprised, and we must stop leaving it to someone else. We remember Uyinene Mrwetyana and the national reckoning that followed her murder,” says Dr. Ncube-Nkomo.
“That moment should have been a turning point. But we’ve continued to lose more children to silence and indifference. Not one more child should be a victim of our inaction.”