Maggie Nyaunda

Spanking a child was a standard form of discipline in past generations. Many people believed it was important to follow the saying, “Spare the rod and spoil the child”. However a parent who spanks their children in South Africa today could possibly face criminal charges. Consultation processes are being followed in the drafting of an amendment to the Children's Act. This is the second bid by the Children's Rights Project to ban corporal punishment of children following initial attempts made in 2007.

By Nomzamo Thukwane With attractive commercials everywhere, including taxi ranks, roadside billboards and even on mobile phones, many people fall into the trap of unplanned spending, making immediate decisions to buy before thinking. This habit is normally motivated by emotional thinking rather than a need for the item -- there is a perception that buying something will bring a change in mood.

By Nomzamo Thukwane  For many years domestic violence and the abuse of women and children was regarded as a private matter and many cases in South Africa were not reported.

There are many reasons why families break up these days. Some of the reasons include miscommunication, infidelity, addictions, religious beliefs or even disagreements on finances. Yet nothing makes a broken  family as permanent as divorce does.

The abolition of prayer assemblies and religious education in schools in the 1990s, combined with children's natural curiosity, may have opened the way for satanism to take hold on so many South African teenagers.

By: Nomzamo Thukwana  Current social issues confronting young people are very different from the educational concerns which made thousands march through the streets of Soweto in 1976.