As we observe Child Protection Week the Inkatha Freedom Party believes that awareness, protection and care of children must be a 365 days campaign.
“As the IFP we believe that it is imperative that the protection of children must be our core focus and it is essential that we make it a 365 days project. One-week or 16 days is not enough to raise awareness about the protection of children. It is high time NOW to have robust debates and open public platforms to raise sustainable awareness campaigns that will continuously and actively denounce this scourge.
Children’s rights cannot be protected if a person is not aware of their human rights. We should be cognisant about these issues and not only at a certain time of the year. There are different types of abuse and violence that children and women face every day and every minute such as physical abuse, emotional abuse, financial abuse, sexual harassment and rape. These types of abuse call for daily campaigns and actions in the direction of fighting this scourge and educating children about their rights and freedom,” said IFP KZN Provincial Spokesperson on Social Development, Mrs Ncamisile Nkwanyana MPL.
“Child kidnapping is fast becoming a real threat in the country and needs to be urgently addressed before it gets out of control. Parents should always keep a watchful eye for their children to ensure their safety. Often times, children are taken for ransom, rape and in other cases, their body parts are alleged to be sold to traditional healers to make muthi.
Some parents tend to treat child kidnapping lightly despite the ongoing awareness campaign and repeated warnings of child kidnapping cases. It is an irrefutable fact that South Africa has been grappled by many incidents of kidnappings and abductions recently. The problem should be urgently addressed since the number of missing children in the country is on the rise,” continued Mrs Nkwanyana.
“In that same voice the IFP calls for parents to monitor and protect children against harmful internet and social media postings. The internet freedom must be limited to what is useful to children. Worrying behaviour of extreme nudity and sex on social media is on the rise and in turn putting children lives in danger of sexual predators. Parents must teach children about dangers of internet because that is where they see things that they are not taught at home.
The protection of children is everybody’s responsibility and government alone cannot eradicate this scourge. It is imperative that the parents and the society be cognisant of the roles they need to play in protecting children and in exposing any suspected child abuse activities or children exploitation,” concluded Mrs Nkwanyana.
Issued by:
Mrs Ncamisile Nkwanyana MPL
IFP KZN Provincial Spokesperson on Social Development
078 302 3991
