Children's Act 38 Of 2005: The Destruction Of A Street Child

As a child, I enjoyed the moments we shared as a family, blissfully unaware that somewhere in my street or the next a “ragamuffin”1 would be running around – cold, lonesome, and begging for something to eat. In terms of the Children’s act 38 of 2005, ‘a “street child” is a child who, because of abuse, neglect, poverty, community disorder or any other reason, has left his/her home, family or community and lives, begs or works on the streets. It can also be a child who, because of inadequate care, begs or works on the streets, but returns home at night’. Despite the fact that child abandonment is on the decline in Utah2, the same cannot be said for countries similar to South Africa although there is not enough research to prove this3. To illustrate

In addition, the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 states that ‘A child has been abandoned if the parent, guardian or caregiver has deserted him/her; or if he/she has, for no apparent reason, had no contact with the parent, guardian, or caregiver for at least three months’. The effects child abandonment can have on a child can be devastating – eve well into adulthood. An adult abandoned as a child can experience the effect of being abandoned in different ways. Examples of the effects include anxiety, lack of self-worth, drug abuse, anger issues and the individual may experience deep concerns about life and finances4. In the article written by M.H. Burnstein5 [1981], he says that even though child abandonment is a common occurrence, it remains inexplicable. M.H. Burnstein uses the words “phenomena”, which indicates that it is a highly misunderstood and unexplored subject. He also refers to the physiological perspectives relating to the effects it may have on a

A key reason is poverty, while unemployment, financial issues, substance abuse and poor parenting skills follow closely. When parents do not have the financial means to care for a child they may resort to abandoning the child, be it by leaving the young child somewhere in a street, leaving the child in a dustbin or even in a taxi6, which happens more often than one might think. In an article found online the author says that “all state enforcement systems are automated” however, governments should implement stronger child support systems in order to cut down on the numbers of abandonment of children. This would ultimately result in less adults suffering from the consequences during their