MEDIA RELEASE

28 February 2023

Child Series Volume I: Children exposed to maltreatment, 2021

Despite the abolishment of corporal punishment in South African schools in 1997, it is still used as a form of discipline. This is according to the Children exposed to maltreatment, 2021 report released by Statistics South Africa today.

The report further shows that the most common form of violence experienced by children was corporal punishment by teachers. Of the 1 million children who experienced violence at school, close to 84% experienced corporal punishment by teachers, followed by verbal abuse by teachers (13,7%) and physical violence by teachers (10,6%). About 6 in 10 children who experienced corporal punishment by teachers at school in 2019 lived in rural areas. However, 7 in 10 children who experienced physical violence by teachers in 2019 were residents of urban areas.

Maltreatment at school includes corporal punishment or physical violence by teachers, physical abuse by other learners or verbal abuse by either the teachers or other learners. In South Africa in 2009, close to 1 in 5 children (18,5%) aged 5–17 years experienced some sort of violence at school, which includes corporal punishment or verbal abuse. This reduced to 8,2% in 2019, with just over 1 million out of 13 million school-going children aged 5–17 years reporting that they had experienced some form of violence. KwaZulu-Natal had the highest percentage of children who experienced violence at school (35,1%), followed by Eastern Cape (18,1%), Gauteng (11,8%) and North West (10,2%).

Issued by Statistics South Africa

For technical inquiries contact:

Solly Molayi

Chief Director: Social Statistics

Cell: 083 440 7035

Email: Sollymol@statssa.gov.za

Dr Seble Worku

Director: Education and Child Statistics

Cell: 082 884 3366

Email: Seblew@statssa.gov.za

For media inquiries contact:
Felicia Sithole

Cell: 076 430 0693

Email: felicias@statssa.gov.za