based on how these socioeconomic factors can affect learning. There are laws which protect children such as the Childs Act, Employment Act, Bill of Rights. All of which are corner stoned by the Constitution of the Republic Of South Africa

1. Poverty, Child Labour and
Exploitation
BY LM HLUBI (UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG)

2. https://gregmarinovich.photoshelter.com/image/I0000lRFioL34_pc

3. Poverty and Child Labour in South Africa
 Poverty is the state of being extremely
poor in such a way that one cannot
fulfil their basic necessities (Watson,
2014).
 Child labour is the employment of a
child under the ages of 15 years or
under the school leaving age
(Employment Act, 1998).
Factors that lead to poverty and child
labour in children: (Sasmal and
Guillen, 2015),
 The death of a parent, guardian or
breadwinner.
 Social inequality
 Unemployment of parent or guardian
 Inaccessibility to resources,
education, healthcare

4. Poverty and Child Labour in South Africa
 According to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act of the Republic of
South Africa, it is a criminal offence to employ a child under the age of 15
years.
 This is because children of that age are mentally, emotional and
physically matured to work.
 It is within their Children’s Rights that they are protected from exploitative,
hazardous & inappropriate work environments.

5. Poverty and Child Labour in South Africa
 Often children who work are heads of a family
 The death of a parent or guardian often leaves children orphaned and
abandoned.
 The oldest sibling takes of the role of being a provider.
 A child headed household (CHH) according to Bequele (2007) can be
described as a household where all members are under the age of 18
and the eldest is responsible for providing leadership and sustenance of
the home. CHH families are often composed of abandoned neglected or
orphaned children. They face an increased risk of starvation and
malnutrition. Many show poor school attendance, withdrawal or might
even drop out of school.

6.  Often the head of a CHH will drop out of school as a desperate measure
to use their time to find a job and provide for their younger siblings.
 Children are exploited of CHH because they are employed illegally
because they are desperate. They are paid well below the minimum wage
as they are often uninformed of how the employment policies are
implemented
 They are often unskilled for the work but will be willing to learn just to earn
a living. The work environment in this sense becomes hazardous for them
(Parker and Overby, 2005).

7. TYPES OF EXPLOITATION
 Sexual i.e. child pornography
 Labour
 Domestic servitude
 Forced marriages often seen in many South African cultures. In the Nguni
cultures it is called ukuthwala
 Organ harvesting
 Forced criminality such as being drug mules or dealers, car hijackings,
robbery, house breakings.
 Child soldiers often seen in war stricken countries.
(Choudhary, 2014)

8. Bequele, A. (2007). The emerging challenges of children heading households: some reflections. The African child policy forum.
Choudhary, A. (2014). Child Exploitation or Child Abuse. Available from https://www.slideshare.net/AnkitChoudhary18/child-exploitation-ppt-by-
choudhary?qid=9c2e3e6b-50af-4603-9d5c-d8d4fb3c1c75&v=&b=&from_search=7
Parker, D.L. Overby, M. (2005). A Discussion of Hazardous Child Labor. Available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1497784/
Sasmal, J. Guillen, J. (2015). Poverty, Educational Failure and the Child-Labour Trap: The Indian Experience.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0972150914564419?journalCode=gbra
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act No 55. (1998)
Watson, D.D. (2014). Poverty and Basic Needs. The Encyclopaedia Of Food And Agricultural Ethics. Available from
https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-94-007-6167-4_442-1