When he tabled the Children's Amendment Bill in Parliament in 2006, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya indicated that the provincial public hearings on the Bill “will enhance children’s participation in the discussion of issues that affect them directly, and ensure that the views of key stakeholders are heard when preparing this crucial legislation”.
Since then, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) and the provincial parliaments have been working hard to encourage public participation in deliberations on the Bill. Between October 2006 and February this year, the following hearings have taken place:
- Eastern Cape – hearings were held at 27 different locations;
- Free State – one central hearing;
- Gauteng – one central hearing;
- KwaZulu-Natal – hearings were held at eight different locations;
- Limpopo – five hearings at different locations;
- Northern Cape – hearings were held at six different locations;
- Western Cape – also six hearings at different locations.
Public hearings are still to be held in the North West and Mpumalanga provinces.
Members of the Children’s Bill Working Group wanted to maximise their impact by ensuring that coherent and synchronised messages were presented to the provincial parliamentary committees. To strategise around this, the working group organised pre-hearing workshops in the Eastern and Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Free State. Where it was not possible to hold workshops, members met in small groups or exchanged submissions through the e-mail network.
In KwaZulu-Natal, representatives of the National Alliance for Street Children started to engage with the provincial parliament long before the hearings were announced. They arranged constituency visits for Members of Parliament (MPs) and meetings with the chair of the provincial parliamentary Committee on Social Development. These activities helped to put particular issues affecting children on the street firmly on the political agenda as MPs were eager to engage with the issue comprehensively.
Provincial representatives of the national organisations and networks that belong to the working group drew on the submissions of their national organisation for legal guidance and expanded the recommendations by adding their own experiences. Some great examples of advocacy were witnessed. In particular, the dedication of the National Alliance for Child Care Workers ensured representatives at nearly every hearing, with the result that their recommendations for amendments have reached all the provinces where hearings have been completed.
Continuous dialogue with MPs is essential as the provinces prepare their negotiating mandates. Delegations from the provincial parliaments will probably be sent to the NCOP at the end of March, while the NCOP has indicated that it too will hold public hearings after provinces have presented their negotiating mandates.
For more information on the Children’s Bill law reform process, see the Policy and Law Reform page, or contact Lucy Jamieson.
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