How young voices are shaping the Western Cape children’s commissioner role

Before being appointed Western Cape commissioner for children in October 2025, Sarah Roberts had accumulated more than three decades’ experience in the legal field, with 14 years serving as acting magistrate in the family and children’s court in Blue Downs, Cape Town.

Roberts’s time in court brought her into contact with cases involving children, family maintenance and domestic violence. She describes it as a “very emotional type of work”.

“Someone asked me, ‘How do you go home and turn off?’ You don’t turn off, that’s the reality. Someone explained one day that it’s like every day the… case you do is a cloak put on your shoulders, and by the end of the day it’s so heavy, but you have to deal with it. Tomorrow is another day,” she explains.

Now, Roberts has donned a new mantle as children’s commissioner, and she views her time in court as the cornerstone of her approach to her new office.

“I could not see myself doing this job if I didn’t have a legal background on acts, regulations, policy. And it also gives me perspective, because I know what the act is, I know what happens in practice, and I know what can and can’t be done,” she reflects.

Protecting children’s rights

The role of the Western Cape commissioner for children is to protect and promote the rights, needs and interests of children in the province by working with the departments of education, health and social development, as well as cultural affairs and sport. It is an independent institution from the government, but provides reports to the provincial legislature on activities and functions.

The Western Cape is the first and only province to have introduced this position, and the first commissioner took office in 2020 for a five-year term.

Read more: Focus on education system, says outgoing Children’s Commissioner Christina Nomdo

Reflecting on her priorities when taking up the role of children’s commissioner, Roberts says: “Obviously, because of my background in law and the judiciary, for me, the child protection and alternative care system was always a priority. We remove and safeguard children, and what then…?”

Roberts has been making unannounced visits to level 2 child and youth care centres, which are residential care facilities for children run by nonprofit organisations but funded by the provincial Department of Social Development. Her aim is to visit every centre in this category in the Western Cape, and she has seen more than 20 so far.

Among the matters her office monitors are the centres’ registration, the presence of birth certificates for the children and access to IDs for residents over 16. The office also looks at whether the external social workers are helping children with an exit plan and how family reunification and parent visits are being facilitated.

The visits are also an opportunity for the management of facilities to flag challenges with which they need help from the department. Every three months, Roberts meets officials in the department to provide feedback.

Giving young people a voice

Another idea Roberts has brought to her role is working with the junior town councils of each municipality to give children more opportunity to be part of decision-making in their communities.

Her office is also continuing to run community child rights feedback workshops, which were first instituted during her predecessor’s term. For these sessions, the team visits a district to engage with children from schools in different towns, with the aim of understanding how young people experience services in the area.

“All that information is then taken and [used to give] feedback to each [provincial] department, because it’s one thing to get the information, but something must be done afterwards,” says Roberts.

Children in the region face certain key challenges, according to Roberts, including exposure to high levels of violence, growing rates of substance use from a young age, and vulnerability to gang influences in the absence of stable caregivers. She emphasises the importance of providing a space in which young people can be heard.

“I think the children feel adults have just failed them. We have really failed them. So, it would be fantastic to give them a voice, but [also to] see the change. The big thing is they have to see the change, even if it’s just a small thing,” she says.

Roberts notes her excitement for the next few years in her role.

“I’m not someone for titles… But with this office comes some kind of empowerment. It gives me the opportunity to do more… I can make recommendations that can have an impact.”

The office of the Western Cape children’s commissioner has a complaints and advice branch, which can be reached via complaints@wccc.gov.za. This division handles issues that the public raises about service delivery for children under the age of 18. Depending on the nature of the problem, the commissioner will either provide legal advice to the complainant or refer the matter to the relevant provincial department for attention. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.