The South African Department of Labour held the “LET ME BE THE CHILD” Anti-Child Labour Day Campaign on the 28 August 2015 in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal.
The purpose of the Anti-Child labour campaign was to highlight the illegal practices of child labour in the country and reflect South Africa’s policy goal towards eliminating child labour and exploitation in the workplace.
Amongst the speakers of the day was Deputy Minister of the Department of Labour, Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa delivering the keynote address of the event, Dr Joni Musabayana Deputy Director of the International Labour Organization in Pretoria and other representatives from various Government Departments.
The national Child Labour Day commemoration is not the only strategy in place to combat child labour. South Africa is currently implementing the third phase of its Child Labour Programme of Action (CLPA), covering the period 2013 to 2017.
It is for this reason that the Deputy- Director of the International Labour Organization, Dr Joni Musabayana applauded the South African government along with its social partners for demonstrating great leadership in constantly reviewing the CLPA, which is crucial for protecting children from exploitation and abuse.
“I would like to pay special tribute to the government and social partners in South Africa for the role you are playing in leading the elimination of child labour, not only within its own borders but also in neighbouring countries, by sharing experiences in combating child labour” said Musabayana.
According to the ILO’s World Report on Child Labour, which was published in 2013, the global number of children in labour has declined by one-third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million children.
This demonstrates that the efforts invested by governments, international and national institutions such as the International Labour Organization are working and yielding fruit since child labour has declined by over 30% in the last 12 years.
However the fact that there are still 168 million children who are exploited and abused, the universal fight against child labour is far from over.
ILO Statistics on child labour show that although Asia and the Pacific have the largest number of Child population, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the highest incidence of child labour. Hence as part of the Sub-Saharan region, Child labour still remains an issue in South Africa.
In support of the above, The Deputy Minister of the Department of Labour, Honourable Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa stated that “Whilst child work takes many different forms, a priority is to eliminate without delay the worst forms of child labour as defined by Article 3 of the International Labour Organization’s Convention No 182.”
The worst forms of child labour as articulated by ILO include amongst others slavery, sale and trafficking of children, offering of a child for prostitution, using children in the production of pornography or for pornographic performances, forced or compulsory labour, compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict and debt bondage.
The right to be free from child labour is a human right, and human rights lie at the core of the ILO’s work.
