The voice of the child : experiences of children, in middle childhood, regarding children's court procedures

Abstract

By mid-2015 the number of children living in South Africa was in excess of 21.5 million (21 736 416) (Statistics South Africa, 2015). This constitutes nearly 40% of South Africa’s population, which at that stage had reached close to 55 million (54 956 900) (Statistics South Africa, 2015). Over seven million children are living in poverty (Hall, 2012a; South African Human Rights Commission/UNICEF, 2011a), and of the 16.56 million beneficiaries of social grants in South Africa, 74% (more than 12 million) are children (Hall, 2012a; UNICEF, 2015). In the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 a child is defined as “a person under the age of 18” (Children’s Act 38 of 2005:12).