The July 2009 study uncovered a number of concerning trends. The Institute identified sharp increases in the number of child headed households, a high proportion of ‘absent fathers’ in many communities, a total of close on 3 million orphans in South Africa, and a very high proportion of single parents.

The data was such that our researchers who worked on it were willing to describe the state of the family in the country as a crisis. The leader article of our July 2009 report described the state of the South African family as ‘a risk not recognised’ and went to on to say that for many ‘family life still seems an impossible dream’.

At the same time it was increasingly apparent that post-apartheid South Africa was experiencing extreme social tensions. The quality of public schooling was not very good, levels of unemployment remained dangerously high, and violent crime levels exceeded those of the rest of the African continent.

The question of why the above is the case has been the subject of much analysis and research over the past 15 years. A great number of policies have been drawn up to deal with the ramifications of poor education, unemployment, and violent crime. Many of these have met with only limited success.

It may be the case that many of these policies did not do enough to identify some of the deeper root causes underlying many of the social ills confronting the country. Our report on July 2009 suggested to us that a principle underlying factor could be the fact that many children grow up in such unstable communities and families that the disadvantages they face in their first years of life severely impede on their chances  of growing up to form and become part of stable and productive communities.

Over the next year we will review all the factors contributing to the vulnerability of children and families in South Africa. We will review all Government policy interventions to deal with this vulnerability. We will look at international examples and precedents of how unstable family relations impact on society and also how they can be healed. We will compose a single report with a series of proposed policy interventions that we will supply to relevant Government ministers. We will also, later, release that report to the media and to our subscribers via two editions of Fast Facts. We will also offer to come down to Cape Town to brief MPs on what we have found and what we suggest they could be doing.

If you are part of a civil society organization that works in the field of families or children or education or social welfare, or if you work for Government and want to become involved in this project then we would welcome your input. You can contact Gail Eddy through the Institute’s website to learn more about this project.        

 

 - Frans Cronje