Constitutional Court judgment a victory for children

19 September 2019

The Department of Social Development welcomes the unanimous judgment by the Constitutional Court that confirmed the department’s position that the common law defence of reasonable chastisement or what is commonly referred to as spanking, is unlawful and unconstitutional.

This progressive judgment, which upholds the best interest of the child as enshrined in the Constitution and the Children’s Act further confirms the department’s contention that the use of any form of violence to discipline children is at variance with the supreme law of the land. It is also inconsistent with various pieces of legislation and regional and international obligations that South Africa ratified and aimed at preventing child abuse, neglect and maltreatment and degradation, particularly in a violent society such as ours.

Over the years and through child participation initiatives such as the annual Nelson Mandela Children’s Parliament, the South African children have been pleading with the department as the custodian of the Children’s Act to move with speed to outlaw the reasonable chastisement which they regarded as another form of violence against them.

The judgment is indeed a victory for children because reasonable chastisement cannot be justified as a form of positive discipline for children. The department is working with civil society organisations to implement the White Paper on Families, which proposes positive parenting programmes that protect children from family violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

The department is committed to continue working with all stakeholders to raise awareness and to scale up positive parenting programmes and other interventions that uphold the best interest of the child as per the Constitutional Court judgment.

Issued by Lumka Oliphant on behalf of Department of Social Development, 19 September 2019