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Committee Releases Draft Amendments to Child Justice Act
22 October 2026
The parliamentary committee that oversees child justice matters has released draft amendments to significantly strengthen South Africa's 12-year-old legislation on young offenders.
The Child Justice Act, which the committee considers renaming, would see the criminal responsibility of children start at age 12 instead of 10. In serious cases, such as murder, 10-year-olds will still have to face justice like adults, according to Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.
South African child welfare advocates say that a well-functioning child justice system needs to balance reform, protection of victims' rights, and the efficient handling of cases.
Children under 12 who commit serious crimes are currently assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine criminal responsibility, but if the amendments are adopted that will no longer be necessary. Those evaluations have to be conducted by a district surgeon, but there are very few specialists available.
The reforms, first reported by the Sunday Times, also attempt to speed up child justice cases by removing some capacity-related legal checks. According to a parliamentary briefing, the draft amendments aim to increase the minimum age of criminal capacity and to expedite the handling of child-related cases.
The amendments would remove the requirement to consider a child's criminal capacity for diversion and preliminary inquiries. The amendments also seek to further regulate factors for prosecutors or judicial officers to consider, including assessment reports by probation officers, when deciding whether to divert a case before it reaches a formal court hearing.
In 2019, statistics published by the judge president of the child justice courts showed that cases were dragging on for 15 months or more, and that over 50% of defendants in child courts are younger and less culpable than in general courts. Figures for 2020, which would include the pandemic's effect, are not yet available.
A spokesperson for nonprofit Centre for Child Law hailed the amendments, saying it marks the most substantive updates of the legislation since its inception, but judges that the amendments do not go far enough to embody the rehabilitation of child justice approach.
Under the broad-brush strokes of a more forgiving society, children currently accused of committing crimes are able to confess in writing or on camera, without having an attorney or guardian present. An amendment would change that.
The committee is canvassing opinions on the bill until September, and will come back to parliament for final changes. Figures published by the judge president show that, of the 12,000 cases in child justice courts in 2019, just 20 resulted in detentions of more than six months. Those are the kind of offenses that advocates say deserve to be defended more vigorously in child-only courts.
But there are concerns from within the judiciary about making a positive change. Chair of child justice courts Dan Mokhine explained in parliamentary meetings that child justice courts face difficulty finding administrative support and funding. Mokhine said the draft bill was unduly broad in the remedies offered, when what was needed was a comprehensive study of court processes, and a national plan on how to improve them.
A government notice gives notice of the draft National Policy Framework on Child Justice, which was published in June, and the public is invited to comment by September.