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Prevalence,
Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the first decade of the 21st Century gvnet.com/streetchildren/SouthAfrica.htm |
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ARCHIVES [Part 1 of 2] CAUTION: The following links and
accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation
in South Africa. Some of these links
may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or
even false. No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or
to verify their content. Runaways
- Where To Turn For Help Before You Are Homeless Rebeccas Community -- This
is for anyone aged up to 13 years old who is thinking about running away www.homeless.org.au/runaways.htm [accessed 21 July 2011] Here are the best
phone numbers to call …They are Confidential - which means they won't tell
anyone about your call unless you want them to talk to somebody for you, or
you are in danger. They are open 24
Hours - it doesn't matter what time you call
In South Africa, call 0800-05-5555 The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/south-africa.htm [accessed
23 December 2010] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR
- In urban areas, children work as street hawkers, especially around taxi
stands and near public transportation, and as car guards. There are reports that child prostitution
is increasing. There have been reports
that some cities are becoming destinations for tourists seeking sex with
minors Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61593.htm [accessed
11 February 2020] CHILDREN
– The
government was generally committed to children's welfare. The law provides for
greater educational opportunities for disadvantaged children‑‑traditionally
black South African children‑‑through a uniform system for the
organization, governance, and funding of schools. It mandates compulsory
education from ages 7 to 15 and ensures that children cannot be refused
admission to public schools due to a lack of funds. According to the 2003
Statistics South Africa General Household Survey, approximately 97 percent of
children between 7 and 15 years old were enrolled in school. Those not enrolled
tended to be children with special needs The government
donated land and buildings for various shelters for victims of sexual abuse,
street children, and orphans. Concluding Observations of the Committee on
the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 28 January 2000 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/southafrica2000.html [accessed
23 December 2010] [18] While the
Committee notes that the principle of non-discrimination (article 2) is
reflected in the new Constitution as well as in domestic legislation, it is
still concerned that insufficient measures have been adopted to ensure that
all children are guaranteed access to education, health and other social
services. Of particular concern are certain vulnerable groups of children,
including Black children; girls; children with disabilities, especially those
with learning disabilities; child laborers; children living in rural areas; children
working and/or living on the streets; children in the juvenile justice
system; and refugee children. Three Free State street kids burn to death South African Press Association SAPA, 27
September, 2010 www.timeslive.co.za/local/article678377.ece/Three-Free-State-street-kids-burn-to-death [accessed 22 July 2011] saweatherobserver.blogspot.com/2010/09/free-state-street-kids-burn-to-death.html [accessed 5 January 2017] It was suspected
that an argument started between two groups of Bloemfontein street children
on Sunday. The fight continued on and
off during the day but the dispute turned serious when a group returned to
the empty buildings at Ramkraal at 1am on Monday.
The empty buildings at the complex are used by the street children to sleep
at night. It was alleged that
petrol was used to set another building alight and three boys - known only as
Sgantsontso from Street Child World Cup streetchildworldcup.org/ [accessed 22 July 2011] Millions of
vulnerable and marginalised children throughout the
world today are left with no option but to live on the streets. Deloitte
Street Child World Cup aims to give these forgotten children a voice and to
campaign for their rights. DURBAN 2010 - Street children
from eight countries came together in March 2010 to find their voices through
the global language of a game they love. The inaugural Deloitte Street Child
World Cup saw teams work with specialist coaches to express themselves on the
football pitch and with artists who enabled them to tell their stories in new
and creative ways. Zimbabwean girls seek opportunity in South
Africa Donna Bryson, The Associated Press AP,
MUSINA www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2763&Itemid=184 [accessed 15 October 2012] www.namibian.com.na/index.php?id=53527&page=archive-read [accessed 5 January 2017] Sofia Chimhangwa, a 14-year-old in a denim skirt, lies on the
concrete under a filthy blanket. Her 15-year-old friend sits next to her, braiding
a legless Barbie's hair. Sofia says she survives because the other girl's
19-year-old boyfriend helps feed them both when the coins they beg don't
stretch far enough. "We
shouldn't be here on our own. I know that," Sofia said. Her big sister
helped her get to the border from Zimbabwe's capital Harare. After eight
months in this border town, Sofia is not ready to go home because she cannot
yet take money back to her widowed father.
She is among an increasing number of young Zimbabweans setting out on
their own to escape their homeland's economic ruin, bringing both a child's
naive sense of invincibility and a grown-up desire to help their families. Musina is "not a
good place," Tracy said. "There are no jobs. There's no place to
stay. A lot of robbery. Girls are forcing themselves into prostitution to get
money. And others are forcing themselves into temporary marriage, to stay
with boyfriends for security."
However, she said she would not discourage any young Zimbabwean girl
from coming here, adding she would likely return herself one day — a measure
of the desperation in her homeland.
With an economic free-fall, collapsed hospital infrastructure and
deadly cholera epidemic, aid agencies are feeding most of the population in
Zimbabwe. For many Zimbabweans, the only road to survival remains the one
leading to South Africa. First, men
left in search of work. As times got worse, women, too, had to leave. And
finally children. Children flee Justine Gerardy, Agence France-Presse AFP, Musina South mg.co.za/article/2009-01-11-children-flee-zimbabwe-to-uncertain-future [accessed 22 July 2011] Prince Jelom has sold eggs, carried bags and pushed trolleys to
survive life as a 13-year-old on the run from Jelom is one of 100
Zimbabwean children sleeping in a crowded tin-roofed garage at a Musina church, set up as a shelter for scores of young
Zimbabwean boys found wandering the streets.
Living rough, often eating from rubbish bins, the street children are
casualties of the worsening crisis at home where deadly cholera has come on
the back of chronic food shortages, mind-boggling inflation and the collapse
of hospitals and schools. Therapy surfing for street kids Claire Keeton, The Times, Dec 12, 2008 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 22 July 2011] UMTHOMBO’S surfing
club plays a true therapeutic role in the lives of street children connected
to the project, says its CEO Tom Hewitt. Sunday Times reported this week how
Umzumbe surfing hero, Sandile Mqadi,
is using the sport (the stoke) to reach out to youngsters in Umthombo is also unique in
that it is mostly staffed by former street children who know the immediate
needs of vulnerable children and have been trained in child and youth
care. Fifteen of the 27 employees
formerly lives on the streets. Children under the sun Rupi Mangat,
the Nation newspaper, Nov 12 2008 mg.co.za/article/2008-11-10-children-under-the-sun [accessed 22 July 2011] Dagoretti is a slum area in Elizabeth Nyawira is a tall,
lanky girl in the Jua Kali Drummers. About 15 years
old and from a poor family, she took to the streets a few years ago,
rummaging through bins for food and to salvage what she could to sell to the
scrap buyers. "That's where Amref found
me," says the budding musician. Daniel Njoroge (23) was an
angry, aggressive youngster when he came to the children's centre. His survival
during his life on the street sometimes meant feeding on cat carcasses. He
was also on a constant high from drugs. Now he's not only back at school but
also training 15 street kids in music. Cold drives kids to shelters but streets
beckon in summer www.weekendpost.co.za/main/2008/08/23/news/nl03_23082008.htm [Last access date unavailable] Where have all the
street children gone? If you have wondered about the sudden disappearance of
the children who used to beg at traffic lights and car windows, then blame
the cold weather. Shelters say there
has been an increase in the number of children looking for refuge. “We‘ve noted that
every year between June and August more children come here for shelter
because it‘s usually cold out there in the streets. We give them blankets,
mattresses, warm clothes and food.” She said in summer
the children often returned to the streets. Claudio, 16, who
has been in the shelter for the past two months, dropped out of Missionvale Primary in Grade 5 last year. His grandmother died last year in October,
“but that‘s not the reason I landed in the streets. I think it‘s the bad
decisions I made and (bad) influence from my friends,” he said. “We make money by begging, or keeping an
eye on parked cars. When we have money we buy drugs like dagga and mandrax. We sniff glue to keep our bodies warm in winter
because it becomes impossible to sleep in such cold conditions covered by
plastic or cardboard boxes.” Street children building new lives for the
elderly www.theherald.co.za/herald/2008/07/30/news/n14_30072008.htm [Last access date unavailable] Street children and
other youngsters at risk are to build homes for elderly people living in
dilapidated shacks in Knysna. Youngsters at Sinethemba,
a day centre for street children in Khayalethu on the outskirts of Knysna,
are receiving carpentry lessons from local pastor Faan
Muller and have built workbenches and a workroom at the centre. Sinethemba
provides meals and lessons which include numeracy, literacy and life skills.
It does not provide overnight accommodation and street children are collected
in town each day. We watched cops beat kids Vivian Attwood, Independent Online (IOL)
News, July 3 2008 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/we-watched-cops-beat-kids-1.406863 [accessed 22 July 2011] "I work for a children's rights organisation
in the Police did not beat streetkids Barbara Cole, Independent Online (IOL) News,
July 7 2008 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/police-did-not-beat-streetkids-1.407296 [accessed 22 July 2011] But the Daily News
reader, who watched the proceedings from her flat in the nearby Food first, then we talk politics Katlego Moeng,
The Times, Jun 23, 2008 streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/food-first-then-we-talk-politics/ [accessed 5 January 2017] Despite the cold
weather, Vusi was wearing a short-sleeved shirt
when The Times spoke to him. He shivered in the winter-afternoon breeze. His only sources of warmth are a fire,
which other street children gather around, and a threadbare blanket he shares
with a younger friend. “It is painful
living here. I just want a place to stay and I would love to go back to
school,” he said. But Vusi can’t go home. “My father died
when I was still very small and I don’t know the rest of my family because
they don’t like my mother ... she drinks a lot. So I have to go out and beg
for money to get something to eat,” he said. The child-rights organisation South African Missing and Exploited Children
estimates that 60000 children live on South Africa’s streets. According to
its statistics, about 1000 children are murdered in South Africa every year,
24000 child sexual abuse cases are reported annually and 1500 children
disappear. Like Vusi,
many youths are not reflected in these figures because they are not reported
missing and are not registered with a shelter. Prostituted girls’ parents not found Nivashni Nair, Jun 18, 2008 streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/p1374/ [accessed 5 January 2017] Their parents did
not try to find them and it seems the only person who wanted them was the
pimp who sold them. Durban police have
not found the parents of two girls, aged between eight and 12, whom they
rescued two weeks ago. A man had allegedly been selling them on the city’s
notorious Mahatma Gandhi Road (formerly Point Road) for sex. The girls lived on
the streets and the police have not established where they come from. They are being cared for at a safe house
but, according to those who assist street children, the likelihood of the
girls returning to the streets is high. “Right now, these
two little girls do not realise that they have been
saved — they feel like they are being punished. One has to understand the
mentality of a street child to understand why they run away,” he said. “I am almost
certain that these girls are missing the friends they bonded with on the
streets and they also miss the money they were getting from the pimp.” – sccp Biko's lessons for today Vivian Attwood, Independent Online (IOL)
News, June 2 2008 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/biko-s-lessons-for-today-1.402840 [accessed 22 July 2011] Bulelwa Hewitt said
the one redeeming feature of her former life on the streets was the spirit of
caring she experienced among the other children. "We shared the little we had, and
showed ubuntu. Street children have lost everything
else, but they cling to that vital bond. When one of them is sick, the others
nurture that child." A brief, brutal existence Vivian Attwood, Independent Online (IOL)
News, May 29 2008 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/a-brief-brutal-existence-1.402460 [accessed 22 July 2011] SCORN - "Zodwa* fled to the streets of Hope is something to live for By Vivian Attwood, Independent Online (IOL)
News, May 21 2008 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/hope-is-something-to-live-for-1.401328 [accessed 22 July 2011] Commander*, 15,
followed his elder brother on to the streets a number of years ago. He wants
to return home, but the pull of the streets is strong. He expressed doubt
that he would be able to be reintegrated into his community. "The streets are no good, though.
There is no respect and you cannot learn," he said. "Many of the children sniff glue to
take away stress, but it hurts our legs and knees. It's not easy to quickly
leave glue because it is in our blood. "It is
dangerous for other children to come to the streets, but they are always
running away from something. Some run because their mothers are not
interested in them. That is my story. I have hope. One day I will go home.
One day I will go to school again. Yes, I will go to school!" Fuelled by the desire to make a difference Vivian Attwood, Independent Online (IOL)
News, May 23 2008 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/fuelled-by-the-desire-to-make-a-difference-1.401711 [accessed 22 July 2011] The loss of family
to HIV and Aids, poverty and abuse are some of the reasons children end up on
city streets. Mellis related a recent incident that
brought her to tears. "It was
pouring with rain and I found a small boy huddled in a doorway. His face
wasn't familiar, so I stopped to question him. "He said he was 13 years old and came
from Umlazi. Both his parents had died, followed by
the aunt who was caring for him. He had no one left in the world." Putting street kids' needs first Vivien Attwood, Independent Online (IOL)
News, May 22 2008 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/putting-street-kids-needs-first-1.401506 [accessed 22 July 2011] SKEWED - "Readers
need to examine the issues of why the children come to the city, and what
happens to them on the streets. The popular misconception is that: 'Kids like
it on the streets'. In our experience they always run from something. There
is always a 'push factor'. "Umthombo sees reintegration as the only viable future for
street children. The organisation provides both
temporary support and long-term assistance to help former street children
find new families or mend fractured family relationships. Their new
environment is regularly monitored to make sure it is conducive to healthy
childhood development. "When the
government subsidy dries up as a child turns 18, he or she has no option but
to return to street life. If they had been reintegrated into communities
instead, they would have a greater sense of purpose and belonging." From scavenger to survivor Vivian Attwood, Independent Online (IOL) News,
May 20 2008 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/from-scavenger-to-survivor-1.401119 [accessed 22 July 2011] DISCARDED LIVES - The children's
activist was born into a community with little hope for the future, beyond
finding the next drink or cigarette. Her mother and step-father lived in a
makeshift shack on the edge of the East London municipal waste dump. Bulelwa and her two younger siblings, Nosiphiwe and Bulelani, spent
their days scouring the dump for anything that could be eaten or sold. Their
mother kept them out of school for that purpose. "We moved like
that, back and forth. There were people on the street living under plastic
bags and in small boxes like dog kennels. Other kids from the squatter camp
joined us. We became like a family unit and looked out for one another." "Life on the
streets wasn't really better than on the dump, but there was more chance of
finding food," she said. "At
night when the restaurants closed we would wait to grab the food they threw
away. We also begged for money and then we either bought food or benzine or thinners to sniff. "It made me see strange things, like
snakes coming out of the sea, but I wasn't scared. It sent me into a world of
my own, and helped block out the past. It took away my hunger and made me
bolder." Bulelwa and her siblings
were headed down a one-way road. Malnourished and substance addicted, they
were bound to contract disease and die young. A fellow street child, an older
youth, had been observing the little band, and intervened. Inside Martin Wroe, The
Sunday Times, March 2, 2008 www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/travel/Destinations/Africa_Mid_East/article81532.ece [accessed 15 October 2012] A group of 25 young
people, mainly boys, with maybe four teenage girls, is huddled against the
long wall of a cheap hotel on a downtown “I did go home
once,” explains Tabiso, who was 14 when his mother
told him she couldn’t afford to keep him. “But there was no place for me, so
I came back, because all my friends are here now.” Not quite all of them.
Some have died, victims of HIV/Aids or casual violence, but Tabiso is putting his hope in the person leading our
unusual summer holiday from the UK.
“Tom,” he says confidently, “is going to teach me to surf, and that
will be the job that will get me off the streets.” Police raped us - street kids Carvin Goldstone,
Independent Online (IOL) News, March 8 2008 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/police-raped-us-street-kids-1.392374 [accessed 22 July 2011] streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2008/03/08/police-raped-us-street-kids/ [accessed 5 January 2017] Street children
living near Albert Park allege that two of the girls who have been living on
the perimeter of the park were raped by members of the Durban Metro Police -
and one of them is now missing.
According to careworker Sipho
Nyaka, whose NGO, World Back to God, helps look
after street children, he has seen police officers arresting street children
and found girls stripped naked and handcuffed on more than one occasion. The other one who
said she was also raped was still with the group of street children in the
park on Friday. However, a teenage boy
who was arrested a few weeks ago has allegedly been missing since his arrest. South African Broadcasting Corporation SABC
News, February 23, 2008 196.35.74.234/south_africa/crime1justice/0,2172,164692,00.html [accessed 2 October 2011] streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2008/02/23/durban-policemen-accused-of-abusing-street-kids/ [accessed 19 January 2017] A Durban organisation helping street children has called for harsh
action against members of the Ethekwini Metro
police who allegedly sexually assaulted children living in Albert Park. It‘s easier for street kids to beg than to
go to school Shaanaaz de Jager, January 8, 2008 streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/p1205/ [accessed 5 January 2017] Maranatha homeless
shelter director Trudi Basson finds that in most
interviews with street children they will lie about their schooling. “They will say they‘ve reached Grade 4, but
after educational tests you‘ll find that the child only reached Grade 2 or
has been out of school so long that those missed years are a big gap in their
schooling.” Basson
said smaller children were often used by bigger ones to earn an income by
begging on the streets. This was because the older ones usually could not
earn an income themselves. “They most
probably can‘t find work because they are illiterate as well,” Basson said. “You‘ll find that sometimes the little ones
are victimised and forced to stand on the street
and beg. Some younger children are also on drugs. “They don‘t see
going to school as a solution. After all, why must they go to school if they
can get money on the street right now? And, unfortunately, drugs are also
available. Going to school is not an instant solution to their problem. It
doesn‘t solve poverty at home.” “You often find children who don‘t have
school shoes do not want to go to school. They are too shy to go to school
barefoot.” Instead, some of these children grow up illiterate and are forced
to help support their families. South Africa: Ethekwini
City Manager Extends Good Wishes BuaNews (Tshwane),
eThekwini, 13 December 2007 streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2007/12/13/south-africa-ethekwini-city-manager-extends-good-wishes/ [accessed 19 January 2017] The city manager
said these children continue to resist all attempts to provide them with
support, despite the city's best efforts.
"Businesses and many residents continue to ask me to clear them
away and whilst we do provide as much social welfare support we can, they
keep coming back." Around the same
time a group of residents had been evicted onto the street. "It was late in the day and one of the
terrible storms was pelting down on us. One person died and we were
approached to provide tents to shelter these truly poor people. "We did so, even though as a very
short term measure but the surrounding residents did not see it that way and criticised us." On Wednesday night,
said Mr Sutcliffe, one of the city's stormwater drains burst and over 50 shacks were washed
away. "We urgently put up a tent in
a park and will provide sanitation on a temporary basis. "We will, through our housing and
other programmes, eventually ensure everyone has
access to sanitation and shelter, but we cannot do that overnight. We are
trying to be a caring city, but also recognise that
has unintended consequences." Granny forgives petrol killer Tania Broughton, Independent Online (IOL)
News, December 12 2007 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/granny-forgives-petrol-killer-1.382394 [accessed 22 July 2011] "I can also
take judicial notice of the fact that the deceased were street children. "I have personally dealt with cases in
this court where street children have committed crimes such as robbery and
murder," he said, referring to a specific case in which a family living
in their car on the beachfront were attacked by street children and the
father was shot and killed. While that
crime had been far more serious than the theft of a bicycle, "it is an
indication of what street children can do", the judge said. Street children sentenced for stabbing
jockey to death Legalbrief Today, (Category:
In Court, Issue No: 1968), 04 December 2007 www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=20071204131215371 [accessed 22 July 2011] streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2007/12/04/four-sentenced-in-jockey-stabbing/ [accessed 19 January 2017] All four, aged between
16 and 19, pleaded guilty in the Port Elizabeth New Law Court to murdering Boutell for his cellphone, wallet and a pair of shoes. Street rescue At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 22 July 2011] The MEC for social
development in Knock on our doors, says MEC Sibusiso Mboto,
Independent Online (IOL) News, December 3 2007 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/knock-on-our-doors-says-mec-1.381143 [accessed 22 July 2011] Prostitutes and
street children wishing to change their lives for the better need only
approach the social development department, MEC Meshack
Radebe said last week. Addressing a function in Pietermaritzburg
on Friday, Radebe said there were many
opportunities for the children and prostitutes to improve their lives. Recently, the Provincial social development
department received a R24-million windfall from its national counterpart. Alleged child trafficker walks free Raffaella Delle Donne, Independent Online (IOL) News, December 1
2007 at 01:09pm www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/alleged-child-trafficker-walks-free-1.380989 [accessed
23 December 2010] Lured by promises
of work and a new life in the big city, children as young as 13 are being
brought to Where are Sharlene Packree
and Heinz de Boer, Independent Online (IOL) News, November 22 2007 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/where-are-durban-s-street-children-1.379838 [accessed 22 July 2011] Durban's usually bustling
street child colonies have all but disappeared from the city after what is
believed to be a major police crackdown ahead of this week's Fifa preliminary draw.
City officials remain at odds over the fate of dozens of children, who
are believed to have been rounded up by SAPS and Metro Police units before
being taken to Westville Prison.
Social workers say this happened after the children and some adults
with small children were charged for loitering and given fines they cannot
afford. Some may spend up to 90 days behind bars. Kids ‘primed for sex jobs’ Aly Verbaan, City
Vision, 01 November 2007 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 22 July 2011] Compounding the
problem for street children is that the general public is mostly apathetic
and unmoved by their plight. The
children themselves are so hardened by life on the streets that they can be
impossible to work with, even for those trained in the field. An independent researcher has commented in
her reports that their “dislikeableness”
contributes to offenders feeling justified in their abuse of the children,
who are often seen as seen as dangerous criminals rather than victims. 'Angel of BBC News, 9 October 2007 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7035179.stm [accessed 22 July 2011] VICTORY DANCE - Known to her
pupils as "Mama Jackey", the Ithuteng Trust school principal had been celebrated for
providing shelter and an education to thousands of traumatised
and destitute children. Their
harrowing tales drew donations of millions of dollars from luminaries such as
Mr Mandela and US TV chat show host Oprah
Winfrey. But a South African TV
documentary, Carte Blanche, a year ago revealed claims that Ms Maarohanye pressured pupils
into reciting fabricated tales of murdered parents, rape and destitution. The programme also alleged that some donations had "gone
astray" while children at the school were going hungry. Subsequently newspaper reporters said they
found it difficult to get pupils and staff at the school in Klipspruit - in Help TUT students to help street children Yolande Kortjass,
Equilibrium Incorporated, 17 Sep 2007 www.bizcommunity.com/Noticeboard/196/48/6428.html [accessed 22 July 2011] We are a group of
students from the public relations, business communication and international
communications department. Itumeleng Shelter is a
shelter that only takes care of boys. It can currently only take care of 18
boys ranging from 0-18 years of age.
The main purpose of the shelter is to rehabilitate the boys and place
them back with their families. The shelter also provides services to male
drop-ins, who do not live at the shelter but are being helped with food,
clean clothes and therapy. The shelter
is a two-bedroomed house, with nine boys sharing a room. They are in need of
food, clothes, computers, renovations of building, school uniforms, bedding
and blankets. Performance theatre as empowermentUsing
energy of street at Grahamstown Candice Jansen, www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-167045367.html [partially accessed 21 July 2011 - access
restricted] One such initiative
is the Art of the Street Project (ASP), which trains and cultivates drama
talent using street children from the Eluxolweni
Shelter in Grahamstown. Since 2003, it has provided an outlet of
positive self- expression for these youth.
Run by UBOM!, an Eastern Cape drama company, every year it stages a
street theatre production for the festival, based on members' life stories
and experiences. Streetwise kids foil jailbreak Christel Raubenheimer,
Beeld, At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 22 July 2011] The man was very
casual and after following him for a short distance Hofmeyr
stopped next to him and told the boys to grab him. "He resisted, but these are street
children: they softened him up a bit."
The boys climbed back in with their new passenger and returned him to
the prison. The boys, who range
in age from 12 to 18, said they were a bit apprehensive of the escapee. Apparently he did not say much. Aletta Dreyer of the Crossroad Shelter said
the children were all there because they wanted to achieve something in life. Muizenberg drug problems running high Ciska Verster,
19 June 2007 152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/2007/06/19/PQPP/1/cvmuiz.html [accessed 22 July 2011] www.navy.mil.za/navyband/isivunguvungu/Simonstown_newspaper_articles_2007.pdf [accessed 5 January 2017] Gang bosses have
also been making optimum use of street children, who police cannot fully
prosecute. "These children are
acting as 'high-risk' drug runners between False Bay College students and
Village drug-dealers - a problem police can do very little about," Allan
Dillon says. As Director Hagen
admits, children caught for crimes can only be held for a maximum of 24-hours
by police, after which they are absorbed back into the Social Welfare system.
"They are mostly released back into their parents' custody - who cannot
control them - as there just aren't enough places of safety to hold them. We
find ourselves continuously re-arresting the same children." Muizenberg might
soon see a "drop-in centre" for street children established in
conjunction with The Homestead Shelter in Cape Town, says MID board member
Joanne Hichens. "The primary
purpose of the centre will be to get children into some sort of stable
residential care, but failing this, the centre should at least be a means of
keeping track of the children's movements and behaviour.
This information will be shared with the relevant authorities," Hichens
says. Painful rejection as street kids try to
make their way back Tabelo Timse,
June 20, 2007 [accessed 5 January 2017] Former street
children trying to turn their lives around are finding it difficult to enter
schools because they are either far behind in their grades or have never even
been to school. Maranatha Streetworkers Trust director Trudi Basson
said children who had lived on the street were often rejected because they
were far behind or too old to start.
She said the trust had developed a gap-year programme
for the children to follow before going to mainstream schools as otherwise
they tended not to cope. The programme included
home schooling with the help of volunteers.
Children as old as 13 had never been to school and sometimes they did
not even have birth certificates, so the trust volunteers had to estimate
their ages, said Basson. Wave of homeless youths overwhelming Joburg Jeremy Gordin,
Independent Online (IOL) News, June 17 2007 www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/wave-of-homeless-youths-overwhelming-joburg-1.357963 [accessed 22 July 2011] A good
night's sleep is also hard to come by.
Three different groups of street children - one from Hillbrow, the second from the Joubert
Park area, and another group of girls from End Street - said that Metro
police habitually set their blankets on fire, apparently as a means of
forcing them off the streets and into shelters. "Sometimes
the policemen laugh; they think it's a big joke," said one boy. Social workers, outreach workers and staff
at the shelters do not doubt such stories.
Mildred Mhlanga, of Johannesburg Child Welfare's Thembalethu
Project, said that a number of girls from the project had watched as Metro
police lifted their blankets from the rubbish bins where they were stored and
set them alight.
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