Since becoming the province's children's commissioner, Sarah Roberts has drawn on her legal experience to advance child protection.

Before being appointed Western Cape commissioner for children in October 2025, Sarah Roberts had accumulated more than three decades' experience in the legal field, with 14 years serving as acting magistrate in the family and children's court in Blue Downs, Cape Town.

Roberts's time in court brought her into contact with cases involving children, family maintenance and domestic violence. She describes it as a "very emotional type of work".

"Someone asked me, 'How do you go home and turn off?' You don't turn off, that's the reality. Someone explained one day that it's like every day the... case you do is a cloak put on your shoulders, and by the end of the day it's so heavy, but you have to deal with it. Tomorrow is another day," she explains.

Now, Roberts has donned a new mantle as children's commissioner, and she views her time in court as the cornerstone of her approach to her new office.

"I could not see myself doing this job if I didn't have a legal background on acts, regulations, policy. And it also gives me perspective, because I know what the act is, I know what happens in practice, and I know what can...