What are 'social fathers' and why are they important in helping boys with absent dads?
More than 64% of children in SA do not live with their biological fathers, according to the third 'State of South African Fathers' report.
A man teaching a young boy to fish, father, mentor. Image: Facebook/The Character Company
On Father's Day, CapeTalk's Sara-Jayne Makwala King is joined by Jaco van Schalkwyk, founder of The Character Company.
A recently released report reveals that over 64% of children in South Africa do not live with their biological fathers.
State of South African Fathers 2024 did find however, that more than half of these children are cared for by other adult men, with 76% living in household with an adult man.
These can be stepfathers, partners of the mothers, or extended family members like grandfathers, uncles, and older brothers,
Men outside the family can also serve as 'social fathers', stepping in to provide guidance and support. These can be, for instance, teachers, pastors, coaches, or mentors through various community programs.
Sara-Jayne Makwala King chats to Jaco van Schalkwyk, founder of The Character Company, which focuses on establishing a culture of 'MENtorship'.
Van Schalkwyk explains that their system of mentorship for young boys growing up without their fathers or any positive male role models in their homes is a long-term one.
It can start with boys as young as five, and the hope is that these youngsters will one day return in a mentorship role themselves.
"In our experience, probably as many as four out of five boys do not have a positive male role model in their lives, and that creates a whole lot of challenges for us in our society. At The Character Company... we start with putting what we now term social fathers in the lives of those young men to walk the journey with them beyond even high school and into a place where they then come back as mentors or social fathers themselves."
Jaco van Schalkwyk, Founder - The Character Company
Van Schalkwyk emphasizes that they work with 'amazing' single mothers, and there is no criticism implied of the way that these women handle their circumstances.
It's simply just that there is stuff boys need to learn from their dads, he says.
"I always say to the moms: It's not that you're not good enough, it's just that you're not 'dad' enough."
Jaco van Schalkwyk, Founder - The Character Company
"For moms it's important to understand that organisations like ours are there to PARTNER with them - we're saying 'you're doing an amazing thing, being required to step into spaces you're not supposed to and we want to come along as a partner and say how do we help, how do we support, how do we tackle the different conversations that you don't want to have'..."
Jaco van Schalkwyk, Founder - The Character Company
Find out more about the work The Character Company does on their website, or follow them on social media.
Hear more from van Schalkwyk in the interview audio at the top of the article