Today kicks off Child Protection Week in SA in order to raise awareness of the rights of children. Kwazulu Natal Aquatics will be running an awareness campaign this week on the responsibilities of all role players and stakeholders who work with children to highlight measures that are in place to protect them from any form of abuse.
It is our duty and privilege to protect those who are most vulnerable in our society from any form of abuse.
One of the primary laws promulgated to protect children is the Children’s Act, which is designed to protect the child from maltreatment, abuse, neglect, degradation, discrimination, exploitation, and any other physical, emotional or mental harm or hazards.
It is important to recognise that there are important stipulations in the Children’s Act that apply to everyone that works with children, including teachers, child carers, coaches, swim teachers, administrators and officials. The Act applies to all stakeholders, including Coaches,Instructor, Administrator, School Teachers, or any in any other occupation that entails working with children.
Todays message is to highlight that “All people working with children need to have a Police Clearance and must not be listed in the Child Protection Register as people who are unsuitable to working with children.” It is the responsibly of the head of the club, school or organisation to ensure that all its employees or volunteers working with children have Police Clearance and are not flagged in the Child Protection Register.
Tomorrow we will cover areas such as who is compelled to report child abuse and how to report it.
Online Police Clearance can be
processed from the KZN Offices in Durban and Pietermaritzburg by booking an
appointment on
Durban – admin@kznaquatics.co.za
Pietermaritzburg – umdaaquatics@gmail.com