The Child’s Right to Basic Education in South Africa: The Importance of Reporting to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

Abstract

The African Children’s Charter explicitly recognises the child’s right to education in Article 11(1). As South Africa is a party to the African Children’s Charter, periodic reports must be submitted by the state to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. These periodic reports play a valuable role in establishing the manner and extent to which state parties have fulfilled their obligations in terms of the African Children’s Charter. The accompanying Concluding Observations provided by the Committee serve a complementary role by identifying positive and negative aspects of the state parties’ reports and possible recommendations on how challenges could be addressed. This article centres on a discussion of the child’s right to basic education through the lens of South Africa’s obligations as imposed by the African Children’s Charter, by drawing a comparative analysis of the South African legal framework to Article 11 of the African Children’s Charter and by studying South Africa’s periodic reports. The question posed in the article centres on whether we are dealing with mere lip-service by state parties submitting periodic reports, rather than taking action and ensuring that their obligations are met in accordance with the African Children’s Charter. The value of the periodic reports and the committee’s accompanying Concluding Observations as a monitoring tool for measuring compliance with the African Children’s Charter is ultimately considered.