Child protection experts are urging South Africans to recognise child neglect as a widespread form of abuse that requires continuous community intervention rather than relying solely on designated social workers and teachers.
Speaking during Child Protection Month, the director of the Teddy Bear Clinic, Dr Shaheda Omar, described neglect as the silent erosion of child safety, warning that children are increasingly being burdened with unfair adult responsibilities.
She pointed to recent tragedies, including the alleged suicide of a 12-year-old in Durban who was left to care for other children, and the disappearance of two-year-old Omphile Sithole in Limpopo, which resulted in her grandparents facing neglect charges.
Omar says that forcing youths into such roles constitutes severe abuse. She has stressed that both poverty-driven situational neglect and the purposeful failure of caretakers must be actively reported to break the country’s ongoing cycle of violence.
