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Child Care Act, 1983 (Act No. 74 of 1983)

Chapter 9 : General provisions

53. Transfer of certain parental powers

 

1)
a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3), a parent or guardian of any pupil or of any child who has under this Act or under section 290 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977), been placed in any custody other than the custody of the parent or guardian, shall be divested of his right of control over and of his right to the custody of that pupil or child, and those rights, including the right to punish and to exercise discipline, shall be vested -
i) in the management of the institution to which the pupil was sent; or
ii) in the person in whose custody the child was placed.
b) The management of any such institution may authorize the head of the institution to exercise on its behalf any powers in connection with punishment and discipline which are conferred upon it in terms of this subsection.

 

2) If a minor living with his parent or guardian has, by virtue of an order made under this Act or the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977, been placed under the supervision of a social worker, the parent or guardian shall exercise his right of control over the minor in accordance with any directions which he may have received from the said social worker.

 

3) The rights transferred by subsection (1) from a parent or guardian to the management of any institution or to any other person shall not include the power to deal with any property of a pupil or child or the power to consent to the marriage of a pupil or child or to the performance upon or the provision to a pupil or child of an operation or medical treatment which is attended with serious danger to life.

 

4) If the head of the institution concerned or the person in whose custody any such pupil or child is, has reasonable grounds for believing that the performance of any operation upon or the provision of medical treatment to the pupil or child is necessary to preserve his life or to save him from a serious and lasting physical injury or disability and that the need for the operation or medical treatment is so urgent that it ought not to be deferred for the purpose of consulting the parents or guardian of the pupil or child, or the Minister, the head or the person concerned may himself authorise its performance upon or provision to the pupil or child.

 

5) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law contained, a marriage of any pupil or child mentioned in subsection (1) (a), whether contracted with or without the consent of the parent or guardian of that pupil or child, may at any time within six months after the date of the marriage, on application by the Minister to a competent Division of the Supreme Court or, where both parties to the marriage are Blacks, to the Divorce Court (if any) having jurisdiction in the area in which the pupil or child resides, be annulled by such Court if in the opinion of the Court the annulment is in the interests of the pupil or child.