For five weeks South Africa lost itself in football fever, hosting what many have claimed was the best World Cup ever. But as the warm glow of the World Cup fades, we looked at what the host country did to ensure this momentous event was not held at the expense of its most vulnerable citizens – its children.

With children on extended holidays for the duration of the World Cup, there were concerns that the sporting event brought with it new threats and risks in terms of children’s safety. Children from Saxonwold and Naturena Primary Schools in Johannesburg wanted to find out what was done to keep children safe during the World Cup, how effective they had been, and what role the media had played!

Find out what they learned…
Listen now
Read the transcript
See Khumo interviewing Carol Bews from Johannesburg Child Welfare
Khotso asks children what they think

Khotso, Furqaan and Khumo are learners from Naturena and Saxonwold primary schools. They were nominated by their peers to represent them at a children’s press conference on the 12th June 2010, dealing with issues like children in the media, child safety and human trafficking. They then participated in a radio project with Media Monitoring Africa where they trained and worked as child reporters. The above report is the product of all their hard work! They conducted the interviews on Saturday 3rd July (Carol Bews from Johannesburg Child Welfare and children at Fifa Fan Fest in Soweto) and on Thursday 8th July (Stephen Blight from Unicef and Gyan Dwarika from the Department of Social Development).