The Department of Employment and Labour, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), launched the Child Labour project in Johannesburg on Friday.
The project, funded by the European Union (EU), has set its targets to strengthen the prevention and elimination of child labour, especially in the agricultural sector in South Africa.
The project will be piloted in two provinces: KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
A report from the last survey on the Activities of Child Labour in 2019 showed that KwaZulu-Natal had the highest prevalence of child labour in the country.
According to the Survey on the Activities of Young People in South Africa, the Western Cape had the highest number of children not going to school.
Following the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour that was held in Durban last year, the delegates adopted the Durban Call to Action, which is a document that emphasises the need for urgent action to end child labour.
The Durban Call to Action was a landmark in the movement against child labour because, for the first time, children were signatories to the document and made clear their expectations for decision-makers to step up their efforts.
Speaking at the launch, Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi said they were focusing on child labour in the agriculture sector.
“It is disheartening to note that some of the very hands that cultivate the crops and tend to the livestock belong to children who should be in schools, not in the fields. This situation is unacceptable and demands our immediate attention and concerted efforts,” he said.
He said poverty, lack of access to education, and limited awareness about child rights created an environment where child labour thrived. Therefore, the approach must encompass a multi-faceted strategy, he said.
Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said half of the world's children in child labour were in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Labour robs children of their childhood, physically, mentally, and socially. Child labour is an indictment on all of us,” she said.
Dlamini-Zuma said this was indicative of extreme poverty and called on ward councillors to scour their areas to find children who are not in school.
“Just talking about numbers will not help. We need to know who they are and where they are,” she said.
kailene.pillay@inl.co.za
IOL