With hugs, pecks, SA teenagers defy no-touch law

JOHANNESBURG: Thousands of South African teenagers gave each other hugs, pecks on the cheek or light kisses on the lips as part of weekend protests against a new law that prohibits under 16s from kissing or showing affection in public.

"This new law is absolute rubbish," said one of the protestors at a shopping centre here as she joined thousands of others at similar venues across the country Sunday in the first of such protests.

"Certainly I don't approve of underage sex, but what's wrong with hugging a friend or kissing a friend innocently?" said Antoinette Hamman, a 15-year old schoolgirl who joined the protest at the Northgate Centre here.

"If I kiss my cousin, will the police arrest me on suspicion of being a lesbian?" said 17-year-old Jean Smith, looking younger than her cousin Joanne Marais, 13.

The teen-agers had joined together to protest what has become known here as "the Kissing Law".

Designed to beef up the fight against sexual crimes, HIV/AIDS and teen-age pregnancies, the Sexual Offences Act has a clause which makes children under 16 liable to be criminally charged if they are caught kissing or touching one another.

Buoyed by Facebook on the Internet and the tech-savvy younger generation, nearly 20,000 people have already signed up to join the protests every Saturday this month at shopping malls in major South African cities.

Support has also come in from youth and human rights organisations across the globe for the initiative.