MASERU – It is bitterly cold.
The young school children are dressed up for the winter to keep warm.
They are in heavy jackets some in track-suits and thick wind-breakers.
Some are in woolen hats and hand-gloves.
They are on their way to school in the Ha-Abia, a poor working class suburb in Maseru.
But nine-year-old Thabiso (not her real name) looks odd.
He looks vulnerable and frail.
Thabiso can hardly keep up with his friends as they walk to school and occasionally he has to run to keep up with his friends.
The young boy is shivering in the cold and looks disinterested.
But we try nevertheless to strike a conversation with him.
Thabiso at first refuses to open up, with his friends responding on his behalf to our questions.
We later learn that Thabiso stays with his grandmother in Ha-Matala suburb.
We later get directions of Thabiso’s home from his friends.
Situated along the Main South Road, we discover that Thabiso’s home is a mere shack that is almost falling.
We arrive at the home at 8.45am and meet Thabiso’s grandmother, ‘Mamokete Sebeka, who was about to leave home.
Sebeka is in a foul mood especially after learning about the purpose of our visit.
She says she is tired of people speaking ill about the manner she is trying to raise her grandchild.
She says she has had enough of people’s judgments.
Sebeka says she has looked after her grandchild ever since her daughter abandoned her child years ago.
The mother left home to stay with friends in Thibella, a popular Maseru slum, associated with beer and prostitution.
Sebeka’s leaves us in no doubt of what her daughter is up to in Thibella.
She says the child’s mother had not provided anything for the upkeep of her son adding that she must be fully aware of the dire poverty her son is living in.
“I am tired of people putting the blame on me,” she says throwing her hands in the air.
“I am just a poor woman. I am doing all I can to provide the best for that child.
“His mother is around here somewhere and does not do anything for him.
“I have tried to find a better job that would give me a better salary but no one wants to hire an aged woman like me,” Sebeka says.
She looks irritated and walks away.
Our attempts to pin her down to explain her daughter’s whereabouts hit the brick wall.
In Semphetenyane, 19-year-old Maliea Sebanki says he will never stop cursing her mother for abandoning him six years ago.
Sebanki says his mother left home in 2004 leaving him to care for his three younger brothers and blind father.
He says the mother left for Gauteng, South Africa, where she said she was going to look for a job.
He never heard from her again.
“I had to drop out of school and look for a job so that I could help feed my brothers and our father.
“Sometimes we go for days without food. Yet my mother is out there. All we hear are stories of the life she is leading in Gauteng.
“She has totally forgotten about us,” Sebanki says almost choking with tears.
He says it has been difficult to try to cope without the tender care of a mother.
“It was tough when our mother left. I was stranded and depressed to see my brothers suffer.
“My father was angry and depressed. I nearly turned to robbery but was able to pull myself together before it was too late.
“Sometimes I think it would be much better if she had died.
“But to know that she is alive and enjoying life somewhere while her own children suffer hurts so much,” Sebanki says.
Lesotho non-governmental organizations (NGOs) say there are thousands of children who are going through tough times because of parental neglect.
To deal with this situation, the government of Lesotho has proposed a landmark new law to clamp down on child abuse.
The Child Protection and Welfare Bill has been before parliament since 2008 and child welfare rights groups have stepped up the calls to pass the legislation into law.
NGOs say the proposed Bill could be one way for Lesotho to deal with the exploitation of children and ensure that the rights of children are safeguarded and defended.
The proposed Bill says all children should enjoy a right to education, a safe home, access to food, clothing and support from a parent or guardian.
Deliberately failing to provide for these basic necessities would be deemed an offence, according to a draft Bill seen by the Lesotho Times.
“A child has a right to be protected from exploitative labour. Every child has a right to access education, adequate diet, clothing, shelter, medical attention, social services or any other service required for the child’s development,” says the Bill.
A child is specified as anyone below the age of 18.
“A person who, being a person having the care of a child, abuses, neglects, abandons or exposes the child in a manner likely to cause the child physical, psychological or emotional injury . . . commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two thousand maloti or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two months or both,” says the Bill.
The proposed law also seeks to ban the use of children for begging on the streets.
“A person who causes or allows a child to be on the street, premises or place for the purpose of begging, receiving alms, whether or not there is any pretence of singing, playing, performing or offering anything for sale . . . commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding ten thousand maloti or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 months or both,” says the Bill.
The law also outlaws leaving children without parental supervision and care.
Martin Silutongwe, the national director of World Vision Lesotho, says they were looking forward to parliament finally passing the Child Protection and Welfare Bill.
“Child abuse and exploitation is rampant and needs to be addressed urgently. We have to promote child safety. Children need protection.
“We are looking forward to the speedy enactment of the Bill,” Silutongwe says.
The Bill has been in parliament over the past three years.
Children’s rights groups say it is now time that parliament passes the Bill to protect the welfare of children.
Nafisa Binte from the United Nations Children’s Education’s Fund (Unicef) said the new law will ensure that the rights of children are fully protected.
“This legislative framework is an excellent tool and a step forward to show the world that we are for and in support of our children because it enshrines the principles of best interests of the child,” Binte says.
Unicef is among organisations that have been aggressively lobbying for the speedy enactment of the Bill.
When the law was first mooted in 2006, the government had promised that it would pass the Bill into law by July 2008.
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