Is it illegal to spank your child in South Africa? (2024)

Every parent knows that as your child grows, many changes happen. One change you’ll notice is how a toddler’s behavior continuously evolves from infancy to adulthood.

Similarly to other parts of their lives, as a parent, you’ll have to guide them in navigating between right and wrong. The real test, though, comes when speaking about discipline, and for a long time, corporal punishment in the form of spanking was the go-to for many.

This has changed, and it’s about time parents set aside a few minutes to rethink their strategies. Keep reading to find everything you need to know about spanking your child in South Africa.

It’s time to find out: Is hitting your child illegal in South Africa?

On 18 September 2019, the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled that corporal punishment in the home is unconstitutional. This ruling outlaws any physical punishment a parent may use on their child, such as hitting or spanking, in the name of discipline.

The defense of “reasonable chastisement,” which parents used when charged with physically harming their children, no longer applies. It was argued that this defense allowed parents to conduct themselves in a manner that would otherwise be considered assault if inflicted on an adult.

“The shift in mindset from the punishing parent to the authoritative parent will take time, and you will not always get it right.”

As much as this ruling protects the interests and rights of the child, many parents still believe that it interferes with their parenting style of using force as punishment for misbehavior. 

While this old-school method of smacking or hitting a child for misbehavior may seem acceptable to the average parent, research shows that no child benefitted from being physically harmed by their parent. 

This form of punishment did not instill values and respect in children, and instead of understanding the consequences of their behavior, the children had negative thoughts and plotted revenge.

Of course, there is a difference between using force to prevent your child from being harmed—for instance, forcibly moving their hand away from fire or smacking your toddler on the nappy because you want them to stop crying. 

The reasoning behind your physical interaction with your child justifies whether you did so to prevent further harm or cause harm to your child. Physical damage to your child, no matter how slight, might be seen as a form of punishment. 

However, are you allowed to discipline your child? Yes, but if, as a parent, you decide that pain and violence are the answer to teaching your child how to respect you and behave appropriately, you need to understand that this comes with your child’s level of trust in you as a protector diminishing.

If you still believe that spanking your child is acceptable, please ask yourself the following questions:

• Why, as a parent, do you feel it necessary to physically harm your child in reaction to their misbehavior or frustrations instead of understanding what caused the misbehavior?

• How do you justify using physical harm on a toddler who is incapable of fully understanding their actions and the consequences?

• Is hitting your child the only way to teach them conflict resolution?

• Is hitting your child behind closed doors for misbehavior acceptable because no one should tell you to respect your child’s rights?

• Why do you think another adult’s right to bodily integrity and to be free from harm is more important than that of your child?

• Why do you think that gaining your child’s respect through physical punishment is the only way to obtain such respect?

Parents who use force, fear, and pain on their children in the name of love and authority do not give their children a chance to learn how to understand what type of negative behavior amounts to abuse when the environment has changed.

For instance, children who grow up believing that their parents loved them while causing physical harm to them will find it difficult to differentiate when they are being abused in a relationship by someone who claims to love them or has authority over them. 

This generational cycle of making pain and fear acceptable to command respect brings along the mindset that children must experience pain and fear as normality in any future relationship. This thought process is destructive to creating a non-violent society.

During the presentations of arguments for and against considering reasonable chastisement as a defense, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng asked what the alternative to physical punishment is.

“As a parent, disciplining your child is the most important and challenging skill you need to develop. It shapes the way in which your child handles conflict and their own frustrations as they grow older.”

What is the alternative to spanking?

In my presentation at the African Child Trauma Conference in Cape Town, I discussed authoritative parenting as a method of instilling discipline. Can you spank your child? No, but there are still other various disciplining techniques you can try. 

Disciplining your child is the most important and challenging skill you need to develop as a parent. It shapes the way your child handles conflict and frustrations as they grow older. 

Authoritative parenting takes effort. If you want to parent your child and raise them to respect you, you must engage with them respectfully. 

Most often, authoritative parenting is criticized because there isn’t enough time between the misbehavior and the punishment for a parent to deal with the misbehavior constructively. 

There is always enough time because the time it takes to spank a child is the same amount of time it takes for you to make an intelligent, conscious choice not to react but instead to respond to the misbehavior.

Authoritative parenting involves an emotionally intelligent parent who can make a split-second decision to engage with their child with authority and understanding rather than react with physical harm. 

Choosing to respond to your child and engage with them will disrupt the cycle of reactions and high emotions that come with physical punishment on your child.

Steps to authoritatively engage with your child:

1. Get down to your child’s level, such as if they are a toddler or seated.
2. Ask your child what has caused the misbehavior.
3. Let them talk while you listen, with little interruption.
4. Fully understand what has led to that misbehavior with open-ended questions.
5. Brainstorm together a mutually agreeable, realistic solution and any limitations that need to be put in place.

The shift in mindset from the punishing parent to the authoritative parent will take time, and you will not always get it right. Your inevitable goal is not to win a battle with harm and declare your child the loser. 

When you discipline your child, you should never leave them feeling worthless or feeling that you will only engage with them when they are good. Nothing can justify that a child should feel less human or have their rights violated by the people they love and trust the most, their parents.

FAQs about the legality of spanking your child in South Africa

The world of disciplining your children is wide, and you may still have some questions about spanking and its legality. Here are some answers to the most common burning queries.

Do parents have the right to spank?

No, parents in South Africa no longer have the right to spank their children. This is according to the judgment by the Constitutional Court in a ruling passed on the 18th of September 2019.

What happens if you spank your child?

Before debating whether it is illegal to hit your child or not, consider the impact the spanking (or spankings) will have. Research has shown that this form of punishment can lead to higher levels of aggression in children and, in fact, has little to no effect on behavior.

What to do instead of spanking?

There are countless alternative options available to parents. Some potential replacements for spanking include:

• Put your child in a “time out”.
• Take away certain privileges for some time.
• Selectively ignoring certain behaviors can deflate their reasoning.
• Teach a new skill to process the emotions that lead to the misbehavior.
• Reward good behavior.

This article is not legal advice. The information is extracted from the writer’s presentation at the African Child Trauma Conference 2019. For more information, contact Fair Practice at info@fairpractice.co.za.

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