2011 marks a momentous year in the history of SCKZN. This year we celebrate 50 years of serving the children of our province by our belief that every child should live in a safe, secure environment which ensures that their rights and needs are met.

Consensus on defining children’s rights has become clearer
in the last fifty years. A 1973 publication by Hilary Clinton
(then an attorney), stated that children’s rights were a
“slogan in need of a definition”. According to some
researchers, the notion of children’s rights is still not well
defined, with at least one proposing that there is no
singularly accepted definition or theory of the rights held by
children.

South Africa has made significant progress in fulfilling the
rights of children during the past fifty years. This country
has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world,
and a system of laws and programmes has been put in place
to ensure basic support for children. The delivery of essential
services has been expanded in significant ways to all groups
of society. Yet, inequities in access to the essentials of life
still exist, affecting in very strong ways how children access
the opportunities that the country has for the fulfilment of
their rights. Children in the poorest households appear to
have benefited least from progress since the end of
apartheid. The income situation of a child’s family, race,
location and to a lesser degree gender, determine the extent
of inequities in the fulfilment of children’s rights.

Accelerating the reduction of inequities in the fulfilment of
children’s rights is both a moral imperative and necessary
condition for the total development of the country. As the
evidence shows, the situation of children left behind in
South Africa requires special attention from policy
makers, attention that prioritises their rights in government
programmes, budgets and monitoring systems. There is an
urgent need for policy makers to move at a faster pace to
redress inequities from the past, as well as tackle the
substantial barriers that the poorest children still face today.

As SCKZN moves toward an alliance which will see the
establishment of the organisation Save The Children South
Africa being formed in the very near future, we can be proud
of the legacy that we leave behind and that will form part of
the constitution and guidelines of the new body.

I have been privileged to be Chairman of SCKZN for 10 years
and I would like to pay tribute to the Committee and Staff of
SCKZN, particularly to Mari Van Der Merwe, Director. Mari,
your tireless efforts on behalf of those less fortunate than
us is to be commended, and the enthusiasm with which you
have embraced the forthcoming changes is to be applauded.
I also thank all the supporters and volunteers who give so
willingly of their time and money to support our endeavours.
It is my fervent hope that the needs of the children of our
province will continue to be looked after long into the
future.

VANASHREE SINGH
CHAIRMAN