On 1 April 2010 the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 (as amended by the Children’s Amendment Act 41 of 2007) and the Regulations came into full force. The purpose of this Act is to:

• Give effect to certain rights of children as contained in the constitution
• Set out principles relating to the care and protection of children
• Define parental responsibilities and rights; to make further provision regarding Children’s courts
• Provide for partial care of children
• Provide for early childhood development
• Provide for the issuing of contribution orders
• Provide for prevention and early intervention
• Provide for children in alternative care Provide for foster care
• Provide for child and youth care centres and drop-in centres
• Make new provision for the adoption of children
• Provide for inter-country adoption
• Give effect to the Hague Convention on inter-country adoption
• Prohibit child abduction and to give effect to the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction
• Provide for surrogate motherhood, and
• Create certain new offences relating to children and to provide for matters connected therewith

In summary the Act makes, inter alia, provision for the following:

• The Act sets out principles relating to the care and protection of children and defines parental responsibilities and rights. The best interests of the child is a key consideration in determining disputes with regard to parental responsibilities and rights.
• The Act also contains provisions on the parental responsibilities and rights of unmarried fathers relating to access to the custody of their children. The Act aims to give unmarried fathers the same rights to parental responsibility that biological mothers have. For example: unmarried fathers who are living with the mother of their child at the time of the birth of the baby have the same rights as the biological mother. Additionally, if the father is not residing with the mother at the time of the baby’s birth, he can apply for his rights by giving consent to be identified as the child’s father.
• The Act makes provision for children’s courts, adoption, child abduction and surrogate motherhood.
• The Act determines that a child becomes a major on reaching the age of 18 and allows children over the age of 12 access to HIV testing and contraceptives.
• The Act now allows for what is known as open adoption so the adoptive family and the biological family can enter into an agreement which caters for the rights of the child and the biological family to know each other.
• The Act also deals with child trafficking, virginity testing and circumcision.
• The Act enables children to approach the court independently of a parent or guardian.
• The Act makes provision for the development of a National Child Protection Register. This register lists the names of people who are unsuitable to work with children as well as all reports of abuse or deliberate neglect of a child made to the Director-General in terms of this Act and all convictions of all persons on charges involving the abuse or deliberate neglect of a child.