Child Care Act, 1983 (Act No. 74 of 1983)Chapter 6 : Special provisions regarding pupils, foster children and other children39. Medical treatment of children |
| 1) | If any medical practitioner is of opinion that it is necessary to perform an operation upon a child or to submit him to any treatment which may not be applied without the consent of the parent or guardian of the child, and the parent or guardian refuses his consent to the operation or treatment, or cannot be found, or is by reason of mental illness unable to give that consent, or is deceased, that practitioner shall report the matter to the Minister, who may, if satisfied that the operation or treatment is necessary, consent thereto in lieu of the parent or guardian of the child. |
| 2) | If the medical superintendent of a hospital or the medical practitioner acting on his or her behalf is of opinion that an operation or medical treatment is necessary to preserve the life of a child or to save him or her from serious and lasting physical injury or disability and that the need for the operation or medical treatment is so urgent that it ought not to be deferred for the purpose of consulting the person who is legally competent to consent to the operation or medical treatment, that superintendent or the medical practitioner acting on his or her behalf may give the necessary consent. |
| 3) | The person whose duty it is to maintain the child concerned shall be liable for the cost of any treatment of, or operation upon, the child in terms of subsection (1) or (2) as if the treatment had been given or the operation had been performed on his instructions. |
| 4) | Notwithstanding any rule of law to the contrary - |
| a) | any person over the age of 18 years shall be competent to consent, without the assistance of his parent or guardian, to the performance of any operation upon himself; and |
| b) | any person over the age of 14 years shall be competent to consent, without the assistance of his parent or guardian, to the performance of any medical treatment of himself or his child. |