AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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Student populations on university campuses are becoming more representative of
the general population, with previously allwhite universities reaching out to recruit
students from black and colored communities. The enrollment of black students had
risen to 41 percent in 1999 at the nation’s top five universities.
Social programs known as ‘‘Presidential Initiatives,’’ which were included in the
Government’s Reconstruction and Development Program, continued to receive government
support. These initiatives offer free health care to pregnant women and to
children under 6 years of age and provide nutritious meals for primary school children.
In December 1999, a Cape Town High Court heard a case brought by residents
of a squatter camp petitioning for government-provided housing. The court ruled
that the children in squatter camps have a constitutional right to housing and, thus,
are entitled to state-provided shelter. The court also ruled that the children have
a constitutional right to family and therefore, have the right to be accompanied by
their family members in the state-provided shelter. The Constitutional Court, the
country’s highest court, held hearings on the case in May, and ruled that the Government
had failed to carry out its obligation to provide housing, but did not rule
specifically on the constitutional rights of children to housing.
Violence against children remains widespread. While there has been increased attention
to the problem by the Government, the public, and the media, a lack of coordinated
and comprehensive strategies to deal with violence crimes continues to
impede the delivery of needed services to young victims. Reports of child rape have
increased significantly, as have reports that men are committing rape due to a
growing myth that having sexual intercourse with a virgin can cure HIV/AIDS.
Traditional circumcision rituals still are practiced on teenage boys in rural areas
of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal and resulted in the hospitalization, mutilation,
or death of several boys and young men. The provincial department of health
reported at least 18 deaths, 5 mutilations, and 42 hospitalizations during the summer
initiation season that began in September. In December provincial health authorities
began to regulate the practice by requiring the presence of trained medical
personnel during the rituals.
Female genital mutilation (FGM), which is widely condemned by international
health experts as damaging to both physical and psychological health, still is practiced
in some rural areas of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, although it is
not thought to be widespread. The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair
Discrimination Act of 2000 specifically prohibits FGM as unfair discrimination; however,
that provision had not been implemented by year’s end.
Child prostitution is on the rise, primarily in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg.
There reportedly has been an increase in the number of children who live on
the streets, and observers believe that this circumstance has contributed to the
growing number of child prostitutes. The child sex industry increasingly has become
organized, with children either being forced into prostitution or exploited by their
parents to earn money for the family (see Sections 6.c., 6.d., and 6.f.). The 1999
Child Care Amendment Bill, which was implemented in January, prohibits the commercial
sexual exploitation of children.
Parliament passed legislation in 1995 prohibiting the detention of unconvicted juveniles
in prisons, police cells, or lock-ups. A 1996 law gave courts limited discretion
to detain in prison 14 to 18-year-old children who were awaiting trial for serious
crimes such as murder or rape. The measure was expected to be temporary pending
the establishment of ‘‘places of safety,’’ also called ‘‘secure care centers,’’ for the detention
of juveniles. However, due to delays in the establishment of such centers,
provisions of the 1996 law lapsed. Amid concerns that dangerous juvenile offenders
were being released to return to the streets, additional legislation was passed in
1998 to regulate limited pretrial detention of juvenile offenders accused of serious
crimes. The law states that any child under the age of 14 must be released within
24 hours into the custody of a parent or guardian when possible. In August 200 juveniles
awaiting trial were transferred to secure care centers after it was discovered
that they were being held with adult prisoners and receiving insufficient medical
attention at Pollsmoor prison near Cape Town (see Section 1.c.). Immigrant children
detained in the Lindela Repatriation Centre received the same general treatment
as adult detainees, were not provided with separate sleeping facilities from adults,
and were not always provided with food and clothing by the facility (see Sections
1.c. and 2.d.).
There were reports that children were trafficked for forced prostitution and forced
labor (see Section 6.f.).
People with Disabilities.—The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis
of disability. Society is increasingly open to the concept of persons with disabilities
as a minority whose civil rights must be protected. The Government attempts to en-
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