Mixed feelings over new children’s law
Providence Moyo
Parents have expressed mixed feelings over the newly gazetted Children’s Amendment Act that holds parents and guardians liable for crimes committed by minors.
The Children’s Amendment Act stipulates that parents who fail to discipline their children, leaving them to commit crimes will be charged for crimes committed by the child. According to section 13 of the Act, a parent or guardian who fails to prevent their child from committing a crime shall be punished for the child’s offence.
In an interview with Community Podium, one parent Dennis Lunga of Trenence in Bulawayo said the Act is bound to force parents and guardians with troublesome children to cover up their children’s delinquency in fear of prosecution.
“As parents and guardians we are being forced to conceal offences committed by youngsters especially in our homesteads because reporting would be tantamount to self incriminating because you are not sure if security forces will apprehend me or not. This law may lead to a spike in corruption where rich parents will buy their freedom in collusision with the some crooked security forces,” said Lunga.
Another resident Luyanda Masina said children could abuse this legal instrument to punish their guardians and parents by commiting crimes just to have their parents take the fall.
It’s a complex law, for instance,how does a parent prove that they have made efforts to discipline their children in court?”
During a virtual discussion that was organised by Matabeleland Council on the Welfare of the Child (MCWC), a participant Mbulisi expressed his optimism on the move towards ending use of youngsters in selling of drugs in the country.
“This amendment was necessitated by a certain trend which the society has been observing for some time now. Some Parents and guardians have been using children to sell even illegal stuff, and they would choose to look away just because the child is bringing in some cash home”
Matabeleland Coalition for the Welfare of the Child (MCWC) director,Phumulani Mpofu said even though the law has an Afrocentric perspective in grooming children, parents are caught in between.
“This looks more like the legalization of our yesteryear community long standing views on child discipline. In a communal or traditional community setup, parents are responsible and liable for their children’s deeds (inyoni itshayelwa abadala”), even if you commit a grave crime like murder its your parents or relatives who suffer the consequences. So to me the parents have now been legally burdened with what was otherwise their responsibility in a cultural or community setup. Unfortunately this ascribes criminality to a parent whose child commits a crime.”
Edwin Sibanda, a parent said disciplining children had become more difficult since corporal punishment was outlawed. He said because of the illegality of corporal punishment, it is unfair to prosecute parents for children’s offences.
“I know that corporal punishment was not the only way of disciplining children but it arguably was the best. To criminalise corporal punishment and then make parents liable for their children’s crimes is unjust,” said Sibanda.
Corporal punishment was outlawed in 2017 through a High Court ruling that declared article 60(2) (c) of the Educational Act unconstitutional.
Part of the Children’s Ammendment act reads as follows:
“Any person, including a parent or guardian of a child who—
(a) encourages a child to commit an offence; or
(b) trains a child in the commission of an offence; or
(c) knowingly provides a child with facilities to commit an offence; or
(d) being a parent or guardian of a child fails to take reasonable steps to ensure that the child does not commit an offence where the parent or guardian of the child was in a position to take such steps; shall be guilty of an offence and liable to the penalties that could have been imposed on him or her had he been guilty of the offence that the child committed.
