Firstly, advocate M Mathaphuna, who was responsible for legal oversight of the bill, answered a question about fees at the National Child Care and Protection Forum in July 2019 by explaining that as an attorney, his fees are not prescribed in legislation like the Marriage or Divorce Acts, they are instead regulated by his professional industry body. In November 2018, the adoption community in South Africa was rocked by the last-minute addition of three clauses to the Children’s Amendment Bill (CAB) which will prohibit the charging of … It initially states in Ad Clause 128(a) that: “, But 128(f) expresses a conflicting position, At a parliamentary briefing in September, the DDG for social development very tellingly explained that the, It’s confirmation of what the adoption industry has long suspected, that the DSD wants control of all adoptions. Those that survive will spend longer in institutions or in impermanent foster care. A child whose parents are both dead is available for adoption. But it showed that the department doesn’t have the capacity to take on additional tasks, especially since the bill also doesn’t solve foster care, and therefore won’t reduce its current workload. But, with ratios in some provinces of one social worker to every 10,000 people, and current workloads of 100 to 300 cases per social worker, how can the department add ethically complex adoptions (which can take experienced social workers two years to complete) to their workload, or focus any resources exclusively on adoptions? The law does not require the adoption agency to tell the parents this, but some adoption agencies will disclose this. As an adoptive mom to a beautiful daughter, she has a special interest in adoption advocacy and the needs of vulnerable children. South Africa recognizes two kinds of adoptions by foreigners: 1) those completed by foreign residents of South Africa, and 2) international adoptions where foreigners are given children to adopt in their home country. Yes, homosexuals can adopt either as individuals or as partners. She, however, explained that “we want to promote adoption, but what we are clear about as a department is that government social workers need to provide the adoption”. Select which newsletters you'd like to receive, In November 2018, the adoption community in South Africa was rocked by the last-minute addition of three clauses to the Children’s Amendment Bill (CAB) which will, The conjecture was reinforced when the Memorandum of Objects (MOO) for the bill was finally released in late August (eight months after the bill went to Cabinet). It also articulates a clear misperception about which children need adoption, and equally about who is adopting. South Africa Adoption Fast Facts. DHA interference also resulted in five special needs children, who had all spent the first few years of their lives in institutional care, and were old enough to know that they had a family for the first time, being separated from those families for an extended period shortly after meeting them. His answer was significant because while it may be ideal for professional bodies to regulate adoption fees, if the adoption fee clauses are deleted, it will make the charging of fees for any adoption-related work illegal. But if it was an error, why has the DSD not corrected it, instead of vociferously defending across media platforms its decision to delete fees? During September and October 2019, the DSD made multiple presentations to the Portfolio Committee about its efforts to ensure that all foster care orders were manually renewed before they expired at the end of November. It raises questions about timing. This website provides just that, and is run by a team of dedicated adoption … According to the law, any South Africa citizen over the age of 18 is eligible to adopt a child. The article traces the historical development of the legal concept of adoption from early civilization to present day South African law. It’s speculation, but there is some credible evidence. Adoptive parents need to be 18 or older and South African citizens or permanent residents. Therefore no fees should be charged for adoption because it is not a business but a child protection measure.”, But 128(f) expresses a conflicting position: “The removal of adoption fees does not mean that the department is prohibiting social workers, lawyers, psychologist and other professionals in private practice… to render relevant services in relation to the adoption of children. A married couple can jointly adopt a child. Adoptions will stall and children will languish in care until their age mitigates against them being adopted locally. Due to a series of events, both within Ethiopia and the Unite… During September and October 2019, the DSD made multiple presentations to the Portfolio Committee about its efforts to ensure that all foster care orders were manually renewed before they expired at the end of November. But it’s an undertaking it cannot uphold with the current wording in the CAB. One of the clues is in another explanatory note in the MOO, 128(e) focusing on reunification: “The issue of fees for adoption created challenges where the best interests of children were compromised because not enough efforts were made to consider other alternative care options catered for in the Act, to retain children within their families of origin, such as family reunification, parental and family care, foster care and adoption by family member, guardianship, parental responsibilities and rights, before adoption of a child by a person outside the child’s family can be considered.”. A married couple can jointly adopt a child. Almost every province highlighted a woeful lack of human resources. In so doing, the department not only infringed on the birth mother’s right to consent to an adoption (which is enshrined in the Children’s Act), but also its own emphasis on children being raised within their families wherever possible, not to mention its constitutional imperative to act in children’s best interests. One allegation is that the Department of Social Development (DSD) was not in agreement, or even intentional when it made fees illegal. A person who has married the natural parent of a child can adopt the child (adoption of a step-child). The DHA finally consented to a High Court ruling ordering it to produce birth certificates and passports for these children. A single person (a widow or widower or an unmarried or divorced person) can adopt a child as a single person if they get the consent of the Minister. You can find her at For the Voiceless or her website, Becoming a Mom. It initially states in Ad Clause 128(a) that: “The amendment provides that adoption is one of the designated child protection services as stipulated in section 105(5) Act. According to the Hague Convention, only people from countries that subscribe (e.g. There are many great benefits to being a Maverick Insider. google_ad_client = "ca-pub-0781310523745303"; In the Home Affairs case, stripping these adopted children of citizenship resulted in the government directly violating the ethics of intercountry adoptions and principles of the Hague Convention, and infringing on their rights to both a name and nationality, and to stay connected to their first culture (a global imperative in inter-country adoptions that has been fervently defended and affirmed by the South African government). These amendments will make it illegal for anyone to charge fees for professional adoptive services; putting a halt to adoptions both in South Africa and oversees. 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