First court case on child labour in agriculture: In 2002 in the first case of its kind, a farmer in the Western Cape was fined for employing child labour. In 1999 a girl of 11, Waronice van Wyk, had been one of several children employed on his farm to help fruit pickers. She fell from a moving trailer and had to have her leg amputated. Sadly, that is the reason the case came to light, and was taken up by the Department of Labour. However that sentence was a warning to other farmers to stop employing children – even if they wanted to work or their families wanted them to work. Since then the increase in social welfare benefits (grants) has helped to bring down the rate of child labour.

Guilty of using a child to sell on the streets: In 2007 A KwaZulu-Natal businessman, Ramraka Singh, was given a sentence of three years jail suspended for five years, and a R10 000 fine. He had been caught using a 14-year-old as a street vendor selling clothes and cakes. The labour inspectors met with the Departments of Social Development and Basic Education to make sure the child was returned to school.

Arrested for using child labour in a business: In 2013 A Sterkspruit busninessman, Enjung Zhuang, was arrested by inspectors of the Department of Labour. He was allegedly caught employing seven children between the ages of nine and thirteen to work on his trucks, delivering goods late at night. Some claimed they were paid with biscuits and drinks.

Ukuthwala – a tradition that is abused: In the first case of this sort ever brought to court, a man has recently (August 22nd 2014) appealed against a conviction of abduction, trafficking and rape. He had used the tradition of ukuthwala and taken a girl of just fourteen from a poor family to be his wife. She did not agree to this, and tried to escape from him. He says he was just following his rightful tradition. The Centre for Child Law (see Contacts) is taking part in the case and says that under international law, our customary law and in the Children’s Act, forced marriages are prohibited (not allowed). The child was also below the minimum legal age of marriage (which is 16). The child’s rights to dignity, to freedom and security of the person, to not be subject to maltreatment, abuse and degradation, to education and to have her best interests considered were violated (not respected).