Save the Children Sweden’s regional office in South Africa published three reports on the interplay between African custom and children’s protection rights in South Africa and Zambia. Written principally by Patricia Martin of Advocacy Aid, the studies document and analyse a range of practices in both countries that either promote or inhibit children’s protection rights, such as the rights to parental care, protection from abuse, neglect and exploitation, protection against corporal punishment, health care, and participation.

The HSRC and UNICEF published a report on government-funded programmes for vulnerable children in South Africa. The review was commissioned by the HSRC as part of a 5-year study looking at the effects of grants and services in enabling families to protect and care for their children under the burden of poverty and HIV and AIDS.The review, authored by Patricia Martin, identifies the various policies, programmes and services across a number departments that are available for children to realise their rights as protected by the UNCRC, the ACRWC and the South African Constitution. The review includes the departments of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Basic Education, Health, Social Development, Home Affairs, Human Settlements, Police, Justice and Constitutional Development and Water Affairs.

South Africa has ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This obliges the State to give effect to the CEDAW provisions and report on progress in this regard every four years. The South African State most recently submitted a report covering the period 1998 to 2008 in 2010. A number of civil society organisations developed a shadow report (prepared by Advocacy Aid) which was submitted in response to the State Report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against women in January 2011.

The purpose of this paper, authored by Patricia Martin under commission to ODAC (the Open Democracy Advice Centre), is to assess how far South Africa has progressed towards the realisation of a meaningful culture of disclosure. The realisation of a meaningful culture of disclosure requires an enabling whistleblowing legal framework, meaningful implementation and enforcement within all organisations of the practices and protections provided in terms of the enabling laws and a societal culture which is receptive to and respectful of whistleblowers.