ABSTRACT
South Africa has a new system for child oenders, which has been ushered in by the Child Justice Act (CJA) 75 of 2008. Prior to that time, there was no separate legislation, though there were sections in the criminal law that provided a limited number of special procedures for accused or convicted persons below the age of 18 years. South Africa never fully embraced the welfarist approach to juvenile justice, even though many of the “childsaving” ideas did make their way to South Africa in the late 1800s, particularly the introduction of reformatories and industrial schools (Skelton 2011). Early legal frameworks allowed for children to be referred from the criminal justice system to the care system in suitable cases, and these measures continue to the present day. e system prior to the
FACTS ABOUT SOUTH AFRICA Area: South Africa is a medium-sized country, with a total land area of 1,219.912 sq. km. e total area is divided into nine provinces. e country lies between 22° and 35° south, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Indian Ocean to the east. Its borders meet Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, and Mozambique. Lesotho is a landlocked country within the boundaries of South Africa. Population: e population was in excess of 51 million people in 2011. According to Census 2011, the population breakdown is approximately 79.2% black African, 8.9% colored, Indian/Asian 2.5%, and 8.9% white. Females make up just over half (51.3%) of the population, and males 48.7%. Languages: South Africa is a multilingual country. e country’s constitution recognizes 11 ocial languages. According to Census 2011, IsiZulu is the most common home language spoken (22.7%). It is followed by IsiXhosa (16%), Afrikaans (13.5%), English (9.6%), Sepedi (9.1%), Setswana (8%), and Sesotho (7.6%). e remaining four ocial languages are spoken at home by less than 5% of the population each. Most South Africans can speak English, which is fairly ubiquitous in ocial and commercial public life. Economy: South Africa’s currency is known as the rand. e country has shied from a primary and secondary economy to an economy driven primarily by the tertiary sector, which accounts for an estimated 65% of the gross domestic product. e country’s economy is reasonably diversied with key economic sectors including mining, agriculture and sheries, vehicle manufacturing and assembly, food processing, clothing and textiles, telecommunication, energy, nancial and business services, real estate, tourism, transportation, and wholesale and retail trade. Climate: e country’s subtropical location, moderated by the ocean on three sides of the country and the altitude of the interior plateau, accounts for South Africa’s warm and temperate conditions. Government: South Africa is a constitutional democracy. e constitution provides national, provincial, and local spheres of government. e national government is mainly responsible for policy, while the provincial and local spheres are mainly responsible for implementation. Each of the nine provinces has an elected legislature, and there are almost 850 local government structures in South Africa. e ruling party is the African National Congress, which has a 5-year term.
