Child welfare organisations in Chatsworth say parents are increasingly normalising violence and abuse against children, as concerns grow over rising cases of physical and sexual abuse in the community.
The warning was raised at a school visit at Alencon Primary School, south of Durban, where professionals from various groups marked the start of the Child Protection Week awareness campaign.
Child Welfare Chatsworth says the organisation handles more than 10 child abuse cases every month. Some parents allegedly refuse to open criminal cases against perpetrators because of financial dependence on them.
The organisation’s Lungile Ngema says communities need to stop protecting abusers and start prioritising children’s safety.
“We have noted that in most cases that come to our office, we get, like, more than 10 cases of child abuse a month. You find that people have actually normalised child abuse. They don’t see anything wrong. And then when you speak to them and you try to educate them that you cannot be hitting your child in the sense that she ends up in hospital, they see nothing wrong with that. So, I think for us, it’s just our problem is parents not being fully capacitated in terms of what the expectations are, what we need them to do, and what they’re supposed to do. So, the problem we’re having right now is parents.”
Social worker Zama Mbuthu says many children are exposed to violence, bullying and vulgar behaviour at home, which they later replicate at school.
“In addressing these issues, I think as parents, because it starts at home, these children are our future leaders; these children, at a later stage, are going to become our leaders. So if at home there is no like proper parenting for the children, it’s going to be difficult for children to grow and be able to parent their children.”
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