What is "a family"? In South African law, the answer - or rather, answers - are broad. For example, it's not considered unusual or unacceptable for children to move between kin and to be raised at different stages by grandparents, parents and other relatives. Kinship care is a widespread and customary practice in South Africa, as it is elsewhere in southern Africa.
The reason for this is partly cultural and partly historical. The apartheid system literally capitalised on the role of extended family, particularly women. It forcibly fragmented families and separated children from parents.
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