Month: June 2024

Children are the future, and it is our responsibility to ensure their safety and well-being by enabling them to grow and develop in a nurturing environment. The sad reality is that many children across the world face a daunting prospect of being drawn into work at a young age often under harmful conditions.

South Africa values the rights of children and has over the past 30 years sought to protect them from harm and promote their development. Protecting children from violence, exploitation and abuse is not only a basic right but an obligation set out in our Constitution.

This is in conjunction with other legislation such as the Children’s Act and Basic Conditions of Employment Act which makes it a criminal offence to employ a child younger than 15 or children who are of school going age. The Children’s Act also discourages children from working in mines, factories or in hazardous occupations.

In June, South Africa joined the international community in observing the World Day against Child Labour, under the
theme: ‘Let’s Act on Our Commitments: End Child Labour’. The key commitments to end child labour are contained in the Durban Call to Action – a document adopted by various Member States, including South Africa at the 5th Global Conference on Ending Child Labour that was hosted in Durban in May 2022. The document outlines strong commitments to end child labour through making decent work a reality, ending child labour in agriculture, strengthening the prevention and elimination efforts, realising children’s rights to education, achieving universal access to social protection, and increasing financing as well as international cooperation. It is in this regard that this year’s commemoration raised awareness against child labour practices across the world and promoted initiatives to help put an end to this scourge.

In marking the day on 12 June 2024, our country reaffirmed its commitment in the fight against child labour. The day also coincided with the 25th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Worst Forms of Child
Labour Convention which sets out to protect children against all forms of child labour. It also aims to prevent the use of children in armed conflict, prostitution, pornography, drug trafficking and participating in hazardous work.

The commemorations gave us an opportunity to reflect on the progress made as well as reaffirm our commitments to put an end to child labour. Despite the significant strides made over time to reduce child labour across the world, much still need to be done to fully eradicate the practice of child labour.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), child labour has for the first time in 20 years increased globally. It is noted that the agricultural sectors such as farming, fishing, aquaculture, forestry and livestock farming account for 60 percent of child labourers aged five to 17 years.

In our fight against this plight, South Africa has endorsed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1995 and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the
Child in 2000 to affirm its commitment to the realisation of children’s rights.

In addition, the Department of Employment and Labour in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation launched the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour in South Africa project to prevent and eliminate any forms of child labour in the agricultural sector in the country. The project is being piloted in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

Delivering the keynote address at the launch, former Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi expressed concern on the increase of child labour in the agricultural sector.

He said: ‘The agricultural sector is the backbone of our economy, providing food security and sustenance, as well as livelihood to millions. Yet, 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.’

D
espite our best efforts to protect children from abuse, neglect and exploitation, many children remain vulnerable. Tackling the scourge of child labour requires interventions on many fronts, and it is a reality that government on its own cannot curb. As such, businesses have a responsibility to the elimination of child labour by carrying out due diligence in their operations and supply chains and ensuring responsible and sustainable business practices that address the root causes of child labour.

Let us all work together to prevent and eliminate child labour by reporting such acts of crime to the Department of Employment and Labour, or alternatively to the police.

*Khethani Hlongwa is Director: Office on the Rights of the Child; Department of Social Development

Source: South African Government News Agency

The City of Ekurhuleni has reminded residents of the planned maintenance work by Rand Water that will affect their areas over the weekend.

The maintenance is planned to start from 6pm on Friday, 28 June to 6pm on Sunday, 30 June 2024. It will affect residents in Germiston, Alberton, Vosloorus, and Katlehong 2.

To mitigate the effect of the outage, the City said water tankers will be provided to the affected areas in Germiston, including Corner Walton and Whitford Roads in Denlee; Stone Arch Estate in Castleview; 29 De Beer Road in Union; Hawaii Street in Gosforth Park; Dinwiddie Sports Club, Corner Cheam Cres and Ingleton Road.

Two water tankers will rove around Roodekop.

‘In Alberton, one water tank will be located at Corner Collin and Marle streets. In Katlehong 2 / Palm Ridge, two water takers will rove around the affected areas. Residents and businesses in the affected areas may contact the depots in their area should they have any queries about the water tanks,’ the City’s spokesperson Zweli Dlamini
said.

For any queries, residents in Dawn Park, Vosloorus, Villa Liza, Mapleton, Palm Ridge, Zonkeziswe, parts of Katlehong and Vosloorus can contact 011 999 5487/5625/5959; those in Alberton, Thokoza, parts of Katlehong, Eden Park can contact 011 999 2651/2646/2638; while Germiston and parts of Boksburg can call 011 999 2514/0515/1583.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) is making steady and significant progress in getting passenger trains back on track with 31 of the 40 rail corridors now operational, says Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) Hishaam Emeran.

Addressing the Africa Rail 2024 Conference taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre, Emeran said PRASA has recovered almost 80% of passenger rail corridors after widespread theft and vandalism destroyed the country’s passenger rail system during the COVID-19 lockdown.

‘The resuscitation of the 31 corridors translates into the steady return of rail passengers. We are not where we need to be yet, but we are seeing significant progress. A year back, we had 15 million passengers and by the end of March this year, we reached 40million passengers. That’s nearly a 200% increase,’ he said on Thursday.

PRASA has invested more than R12 billion in capital projects, creating some 4 500 jobs.

‘Over the past 24 months, PRASA has achieved major milestones, and we can see a sign
ificant improvement; you can see a turnaround within the rail space in South Africa. That has been possible, in large part, to PRASA’s ability to execute on our capital programme.

‘Over the last two years, PRASA has made a significant injection into the economy of our country. It has invested more than R30-billion over the last two years in projects, rolling stock manufacturing and other organisation elements within the rail space. That is a direct injection into the economy, which does not even take into account the knock-on effect of our investment,’ Emeran said.

He said PRASA’s turnaround strategy – which has focused on corridor rebuilding, modernisation and safety – has yielded positive results for rail passengers and the country’s economy.

‘The modernisation of the rail system is reaping rewards. It is creating jobs and revitalising an essential commuter artery. It is also boosting the manufacturing sector with the building of the new ‘people’s train’ taking place in Gauteng’s East Rand.

‘Those train
s are manufactured by Gibela and built here in South Africa by young men and women who are engineers, technicians, welders and so on. We have ensured that about 65% of the parts that go into that train are local content,’ Emeran said.

With the production of 600 trains for PRASA at the Gibela factory, the agency is spearheading efforts to establish South Africa as the train manufacturing hub for the entire African continent, fully supporting the African Union’s vision for South Africa to lead in this critical industry.

‘Together with our sister company, Transnet, and our manufacturing company, Gibela, we are spearheading these opportunities for rail as part of the country’s broader economic recovery programme,’ he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crime Court has sentenced John Tazvivinga to five years for tampering with Eskom infrastructure.

According to Eskom, the conviction stems from an incident, which occurred between 2015 and 2016, where Tazvivinga falsely represented himself as an Eskom contractor to Marhambeni residents in Mthatha, Eastern Cape.

‘Under this pretence, he was hired by residents to connect electricity, for which he received R120 000.

‘Tazvivinga unlawfully and intentionally tampered with essential infrastructure by illegally connecting electricity without authorisation from Eskom between 20 January 2016 and 15 April 2016,’ an Eskom statement read.

The power utility said it suffered financial prejudice amounting to R231 000 as a result.

On Wednesday, the court found Tazvivinga guilty of contravening Section 3(1) of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act 18 of 2015.

Tazvivinga, who is a former consultant at Inkitha Royal Empire Construction, was sentenced to five years in prison, with the sentenc
e wholly suspended for five years, provided he did not commit a similar offence during the suspension.

The company was ordered to pay a R10 000 fine.

Eskom’s Acting General Manager for Security, Botse Sikhwitshi, said the organisation strongly condemns and will not tolerate any impersonation of its business and staff by anyone.

‘We are thankful to the internal security investigations and the Specialised Commercial Crime Investigation teams for their collaborative efforts over the years.

‘While the sentence may not be as severe as Eskom had hoped, it serves as a reminder to potential criminals contemplating tampering with critical infrastructure and stealing electricity, contravening Section 3(1) of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act 18 of 2015, which could lead to a maximum prison term of 30 years,’ said Sikhwitshi.

Sikhwitshi said the conviction contributes to the gradual improvement of convictions, which have doubled in the financial year 2023/24 compared to the financial year 2022/23, increasing from
11 to 22 recorded convictions.

Eskom encourages members of the public to report unlawful activities, including illegal electricity sales and connections, fraud, and theft of coal, fuel oil, diesel, and copper cables.

Reports can be made anonymously through the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 11 27 22 or via WhatsApp at 081 333 3323.

Source: South African Government News Agency