Child advocacy groups have turned to the courts to force government departments to properly maintain and use a register meant to keep sexual predators and unsuitable adults away from children.

The Teddy Bear Foundation, represented by public interest law organisation SECTION27, appeared in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday to challenge the government’s handling of the National Child Protection Register.

The case centres on repeated failures by the departments of social development, justice, basic education and the police to ensure that people found guilty of sexual misconduct or deemed unsuitable to work with children are added to the register and barred from child-contact roles.

The court action follows a 2015 incident in which a primary school pupil was raped on school premises by a caretaker. Despite the perpetrator being found guilty and dismissed, he was never entered onto the register, leaving him free to seek other positions working with children.

Shocking vetting statistics

In 2025, the minister of basic education admitted to parliament that only 19% of educators had been vetted against the National Register for Sex Offenders, without confirming any further checks against the child protection register.

The Department of Social Development, which maintains the register, opposed the application and claimed there are no backlogs in updating the system. The department argued that a court order forcing it to implement proper mechanisms would breach the separation of powers doctrine.

The foundation and SECTION27 have reached a settlement agreement with the Department of Basic Education and provincial education departments that includes commitments to vet all current employees by 31 March 2027, with quarterly progress reports.

The settlement also requires departments to ensure no person listed on Part B of the register, which includes those deemed unsuitable to work with children, is employed in any child-contact role. Background checks must now be integrated into all recruitment processes.

Part B of the National Child Protection Register was established under the Children’s Act of 2005 to record individuals found unsuitable to work with children, whether through criminal convictions or disciplinary proceedings. Employers are legally required to check the register before hiring staff for positions involving children.

The settlement agreement has been made a court order. Judgment has been reserved in the matter against the Department of Social Development.

• SECTION27 is a human rights organisation that seeks to achieve substantive equality and social justice in South Africa.

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