The situation for children in South Africa is admittedly better
than for children living in many other African countries, however
it is not as good as it should be for a country endowed with great
natural resources. Many of the problems children in South Africa
face can be traced back to the recent apartheid period of the
country's history. For example in 1978 there was one doctor for
every 400 white children, but just one doctor for every 44,000
black children. Again, there was one teacher for every 22 white
children whereas black children had class sizes averaging 60
students with $696 spent on every white child's education but just
$45 per annum for each black child.
These discrepancies are no better highlighted than in
infant mortality rates where 2.7% of all white children died
before their 5th birthday whilst 20% of black urban children
died, rising steeply for 40% of all black children in rural
areas. Today some 20
years after the end of Apartheid, the situation is improving
however many still have unmet needs in terms of health (just
under half of all children are thirty minutes away from a heath
clinic), education, decent housing (one in three children live
in inadequate housing) and safe food and water sources (half of
all South African children do not have access to safe water
supplies).
These needs are
compounded by high rates of unemployment, abuse (three South
African children are killed every day), crime (South Africa has
the world's second highest crime rate) and the ever present
spectre of HIV/AIDS which has left 1.4 million of South African
children orphaned (there are a total of 2.5 million orphans in
South Africa), 280,000 infected themselves out of a child
population of some 18,286,000. The most recent
data from 2009 indicated that 22% of the child population lives
below the internationally recognised poverty line (although this
has fallen from the 50% of 2000) and life expectancy for South
African children is just over fifty years.
Children in South
Africa attend the country's 48,000 schools with an average
school catering for around 256 children with each school
employing around 8 teachers. Education is broken down into
primary school (grade 1 -7) and high school 8 - 12) offering
thirteen years of education, although grades 10 - 12 are not
compulsory. Literacy rates are high for Africa with 86.4% of
children being able to read or write, although there are wide
discrepancies. For example, in places like Nkandla, only one in
three children go to school with 97% dropping out before they
complete their education due to poverty.
Whilst many,
perhaps as high as one in three, South African children do not
possess legal documents precluding them from state benefits,
there is the ongoing situation of children fleeing nearby Zimbabwe
crossing the dangerous Limpopo River and arriving in South
Africa without documentation leaving many of these young people
at risk of trafficking, exploitation, prostitution and drug
dealing. The video below gives insights into life for children in South Africa together with projects and programs operating in the country to support them.
Children in South Africa: Masicorp
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Children in South Africa: Child Sponsor South Africa
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Children in South Africa: Volunteer in South Africa
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