South Africa is failing its children despite world-class laws to protect them
8 July 2026
Despite having one of the world's most progressive legal frameworks to protect children's rights, South Africa continues to fail thousands of learners who remain vulnerable to sexual exploitation in schools because of systemic failures, weak enforcement and poor accountability.
MISA, the Motor Industry Staff Association, is outraged about the findings in the South African Human Rights Commission's (SAHRC) report on Sexual Violence at Schools. It exposes the widening gap between South Africa's extensive child protection legislation and the reality experienced by learners in schools nationwide.
Martlé Keyter, MISA's Chief Executive Officer: Operations, said the Union is both dismayed and disgusted by the findings. "It is unacceptable that a country with one of the world's strongest constitutional and legislative frameworks for protecting children continues to fail them so profoundly. Every South African should be outraged by these findings. Schools are meant to nurture and protect children, yet the very systems responsible for safeguarding them are allowing sexual predators to exploit gaps in oversight and accountability."
The SAHRC report found that 26 855 child abuse cases were recorded during the 2024/25 financial year, including 9 857 cases of sexual abuse. It further confirms that schools, which should be places of learning and safety, have become environments where educators, fellow learners, school staff, service providers and outsiders abuse learners. The Commission concludes that sexual violence in schools is not the result of isolated incidents, but of systemic failures throughout South Africa's child protection system.
The report also reveals that 10 748 convicted sex offenders have still not been entered onto the National Register for Sex Offenders. Furthermore, the South African Council for Educators received 826 complaints of educator sexual misconduct between 2021 and 2025, yet few resulted in educators struck from the register or permanently barred from working with children. The Commission attributes this to fragmented government systems, incomplete safeguarding registers, poor coordination between departments and inconsistent vetting processes.
These findings reinforce concerns raised during this week’s episode of MISATV, where MISA Spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola interviewed Vincentia Dlamini, Operations Director at Women and Children Against Child Abuse, on the growing crisis facing South Africa's children.
"We do not beat prisoners, therefore why do we think it is acceptable to beat children? Schools are still practising corporal punishment, while emotional humiliation has become normalised. Abuse is not only physical, but also emotional and psychological too. Prevention starts with the proper training of educators and changing attitudes in homes and communities," said Dlamini.
Keyter says MISA calls for the urgent implementation of all the SAHRC's recommendations, including integrated safeguarding systems across Government, compulsory vetting of everyone working in schools, improved educator training, stronger enforcement against perpetrators and greater accountability throughout the child protection system.
“Until every learner can enter a classroom free from fear, South Africa cannot claim to have fulfilled its duty to protect its children,” says Keyter.
Click here to watch this episode of MISATv: https://youtu.be/vp00nln3m18
Issued by Sonja Carstens, Manager of MISA’s Media & Communication Department. For press enquiries contact, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, Spokesperson of MISA, on 083 367 6417.
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Caption: MISA Spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola interviewed Vincentia Dlamini, Operations Director at Women and Children Against Child Abuse, on the growing crisis facing South Africa's children, in the latest episode of MISATv.