Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 18-09-2019
The Constitutional Court has ruled that corporal punishment in private homes is unlawful.
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, who presided over the case says that the defence of reasonable chastisement was inconsistent with the Constitution.
Parent 24 reports the judgment comes after Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA), took a High Court judgment on appeal which struck down this form of chastisement as a defence in criminal cases.
In that case, a father had beaten his 13-yer-old son severely because he found pornography on his iPad, and argued that he was entitled to do so because he was chastising his son as per his religious beliefs.
In October 2017, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg found that the common law defence of “reasonable and moderate chastisement” was unconstitutional.
Judge Mogoeng says the judgement was unanimous.
“Because children may still be actively disciplined without resorting to moderate and reasonable chastisement, less restrictive means to achieve discipline are available.”
Mogoeng also says as friends of the court, the Dullah Omra Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights and the Parent Center introduced new evidence on the effects of subjecting children to corporal punishment and the need for the implementation of positive parenting methods.
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