Children - At what age can I?

The law considers the age of a child as an important factor in various situations. The Legal guide to age thresholds for children (September 2008) outlines (among other things) the ages at which a child can act independently from his/her parents or guardians and also sets out various legal rules relevant to the particular ages of children.

There are various laws that provide the answers to these questions, and others like them. Some of these laws are currently being re-written and will change the various age thresholds. This legal guide provides information on the current laws, and proposed reforms.

Topics covered include:

At what age can children make decisions and act on their own without assistance from their parents?
What are the age thresholds for children to access social grants or housing subsidies?
At what age can a child sign a legal contract, be prosecuted for a crime, smoke or be detained in prison?

Legal guide to age thresholds for children

Download the guide

This Guide (September 2008 - Edition 4) is a joint product of the Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town, and the Centre for Child Law, University of Pretoria.

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Latest News

Mud schools to get millions rand revamp
6 February 2011

It has taken all of 17 years, but the pupils and staff at Tembeni Senior Primary School have finally been guaranteed a proper school. On Friday afternoon the Eastern Cape department of education reached an R8-billion out-of-court settlement with seven schools, of which Tembeni is one. The schools had taken the department to court to force it to provide adequate resources. Most of the schools were built from mud and lacked the most basic resources.

Ann Skelton, director of the Centre for Child Law who took up the schools case, said yesterday although only seven schools had brought a case against the department, they were fighting on behalf of all inadequate schools. “It means that finally when the process is completed the children will be taught in decent schools. It is what they should have had all along. We were simply getting their basic rights for them. “There have been promises before, but now I have more faith that it will happen,” Skelton said.

Sarah Shepton from the Legal Resources Centre in Grahamstown, acting on behalf of the Centre for Child Law, said: “Our clients are relieved and delighted with the outcome of the litigation and intend to keep a close eye on the developments, so that promises are not broken.”
Granville Whittle, director of communications in the department of basic education, said the national department would take over the responsibility of providing infrastructure to schools in dire need, as part of its accelerated school infrastructural development initiative.