Special Hearings — Children's Hearings — 1997-05-22

CHAIRPERSON: Can I ask the audience please to take up their seats as quickly as possible so that we can proceed.  Brian and Weaam, welcome here today.  Thank you very much for being here to make this submission which will help us understand the effects of apartheid on the children of South Africa.  I am now going to hand over to you and allow you to present your submission.

MR CLAASSEN: Hi, my name is Brian Claassen.  I am representing Molo Songololo.  First I would like to tell you a bit about myself.  I am living in Mitchells Plain on the Cape Flats and I was fortunate enough to attend one of the few schools, special schools, for children with cerebral palsy and it is through my association with the school that I became with Molo at the age of 15 and I am here to represent the children.  It is in keeping with one of the aims and objectives of Molo Songololo of creating a space for children to speak for themselves that we, me and Weaam, have volunteered our services to research, write up and present this submission.

MS WILLIAMS: My name is Weaam Williams.  I was first exposed to Molo Songololo when I was about nine years old.  The magazine significantly contributed to my development as a child.  It made me realise my rights as a child and the equality of all children.  I am proud to be here today representing Molo Songololo.  Most of the Truth Commission's hearings, thus far, has focused on individual cases.  As a children's organisation, Molo Songololo feels obliged to make a representation on behalf of the majority of South Africa's children.
 The main focus of the Truth Commission up until now has been the overt killing, torture and severe ill-treatment of people either to uphold or breakdown the system of apartheid.  We pay tribute to all children suffering in this regard.  However, the violation of children's human rights extends beyond physical forms of violence.  
 During the apartheid era the racial discrimination in itself was an institution dehumanising to the majority of South Africans, especially children.  Our submission therefore focuses on the severe ill-treatment of children through the racially discriminative infrastructure of the past regime causing severe mental and emotional trauma resulting in social ills.  
 One of the issues that we are going to be looking at is land.  Over 3,5 million people were forcibly removed.  The 1913 Land Act led to the formation of african reserve areas called Bantustans.  To give credence to the divide and rule idealogy, the Act allowed for indians and coloureds to own land while blacks were denied land ownership.  The 1966 Group Areas Act forcibly removed people from their place of birth such as District Six, Elsies River, Claremont, etc.  Many were removed from aesthetically superior areas and placed in water-logged and desolate areas such as the Cape Flats.  This posed as a great health hazard to many children and exposed them to harsh living conditions.  It also determined the inferior quality of life of many families.  Since the mid-70's one of the most commonly used legal mechanisms has been the Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act.  It granted powers to local authorities and landlords to demolish buildings and unilaterally evict residents without recourse to the courts.
 The effects that this had on children are the creation of squatter areas with no running water and poor sanitation facilities.  This exposed children to harsh living conditions and accompanying health risks;  a lace of recreational facilities, once again contributing to a loss of childhood;  the forced removals led to a breakdown in family structures causing many children to seek acceptance in gangs and using drugs as mechanisms of escape;  the poverty stricken conditions of townships caused many children to end up on the streets, living aimless lives and bearing the brunt of society's degradation;  the poorly designed townships impaired children's sense of aesthetics;  it also stripped children of their heritage, citizenship and a sense of belonging, causing confusion to their norms and values.
 Our recommendations are as follows:  Effective allocation of land and resources to benefit all children, the continuous upgrading and development of a safe township environment;  the creation of safe recreational and sports facilities;  the provision of proper and adequate sewerage and sanitation facilities.

MR CLAASSEN: The following area that I will be looking at is health.  The World Health Organisation defines health as  and I quote, "A state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".  Good health is intrinsic to good living conditions.  Poverty renders the majority of children to live in conditions that are not conducive to good health.  When living standards drop infant mortality rises and malnutrition grows.  The poverty stricken conditions which blacks live under renders them more susceptible to common childhood infections such as diarrhoea, tuberculosis and measles.  During the past era these diseases accounted for 85,3% of all deaths related to infectious diseased.
 The majority of infant of child deaths during the apartheid rule were as a result of the racial fragmentation of health services.  For example, according to research for  the period 1976 to 1984, the discrepancy between the per capita health expenditure per race per child in American dollars is as follows.  A white child in that period received $201,00, an indian child $109,00, a coloured child $111,00, a black child $51,00.  The extreme social dislocation produced by apartheid led to the collapse of family and community cohesiveness and provided fertile ground for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.  An example of this would be congenital syphilis.  It has been reported that congenital syphilis is a leading cause of perinatal mortality and that in Durban about 100 cases of congenital syphilis are seen yearly in one centre.
 The effects it had on children.  The lack of health services aimed at prevention rather than cure saw many children die prematurely.  Children suffered from preventable diseases such as polio which resulted in disability.  Malnutrition and substance abuse negatively affected their mental and physical development.  Drug dependency became a part of children's lives causing mental and physical ill-health.  
 Our recommendations in this regard are that health should receive priority within the budget allocation;  eradication of poverty should be one of the main focuses of primary health care as health cannot be achieved without the raising of living standards;  health services should be made accessible and affordable to children up to the age of 18;  more and adequate services should be put in place for victims of violence and abuse;  a more concerted effort should be made to provide health services for street children and abandoned children.  They are most vulnerable to diseases, infections and abuses;  primary health care should be the main focus of health services.