Proudly SA…Its winter,
Remember the homeless. Donate Old clothes, food packages & add little love.
During September 1993 (quite
old but, hey!) an investigation was launched on the lifestyle, activities,
experiences, and background of street children in Pretoria, South Africa.
Qualitative rather than quantitative interviews were conducted to gather as
much information as possible on the total life situation and subjective
experiences of these children. This article focuses specifically on their
background. The responses to each interview are discussed
and compared with research done in the past on South African street children.
The average age of the
respondents was between 13 and 14 year, in Cape Town differ only slightly...in
that the mean age of runaways is 12.9 years and the mean age of admission to
The Homestead is 13.6 years. Street children in South Africa are between 7 and
18 years of age, with the majority between 13 and 16. The ages of street
children in poor Third World countries (11 to 16 years) differ significantly
from those in rich First World countries (older than 16 years.
A quote from Schaefer (1989)
depicts the life of a street child: "As a bitter Highveld winter wind
whips through the suburbs of Johannesburg, ten-year-old Moses, huddled in the
doorway of a shop in Hillbrow, pulls another piece of cardboard over his body
and takes a sniff from his glue bottle, hoping it will block out the cold and
bring him some sleep”. Although the above remarks reflect the problematic
situation of the contemporary black South African child, drastic reforms have
taken place since the former State President F.W. de Klerk's opening address in
Parliament on February 2, 1990. These reforms will eventually also improve the
black child's situation. The economic, political, and social reform process is
under way and is making a positive contribution to the emergence of a
non-racial, democratic society, committed to uplifting the broad
underprivileged and deprived masses in South Africa. On April 27, 1994 the first
non-racial democratic election took place in South Africa to bring a free
democratic dispensation to all people in South Africa. Proof of these changes
was the awarding of the Nobel Peace prize to Mr De Klerk and President Nelson
Mandela in December 1993.
It would thus be unrealistic
to explain the phenomenon of South African street children in a simplistic way
by ascribing it to an isolated factor such as a previous unacceptable political
system. The problem should rather be explained and addressed holistically
considering all social, economic, political, cultural, and educational
realities. Like any other country in the world, South Africa's problems,
including its street children, are unique, and should be approached as such.
Simplification regarding any specific matter or contentious issue often leads
to unrealistic conceptualization and ineffective management.
The main reason South African
children are predominantly male is the girls' responsibility to stay home and
look after smaller children. A study has shown street children to be 81.1% male
and only 18.9% female, while in (1988) it is founded that only 10% of street
children in Cape Town were female. "In Johannesburg, as elsewhere in the
world, street children are predominantly male...it appears that girls are
abandoned less frequently, and when the family disintegrates, relatives and
neighbours are more willing to take them in than boys, since the girls assist
with household tasks and child-minding.
