Many children don’t report the abuse they are experiencing. There are many different reasons for this. But the law says that people must report child abuse and it is a criminal offence not to report in these circumstances. This law is in terms of the Children’s Act.

The Children’s Act says any doctor, nurse, teacher or person managing a children’s home or place of care, must report any suspicion of child abuse in the prescribed form to a designated child protection organisation, the provincial department of social development or a police official.