Former first lady Graca Machel on Wednesday called on South Africans to treat every child as their own.
"This campaign is a call to all South Africans young and old, rich and poor, to say protect and care for a child in your family, your neighbourhood, your community," she said launching the Champions for Children campaign in Kempton Park, Johannesburg.
"It's a call to ordinary people, to you and to me... You don't have to wait for an occasion to celebrate the wonder of life and joy and pleasure that children bring.
"For the women and men running the shebeen, the child is yours... for the taxi owner, the child is yours... for the Sunday school teacher, the child is yours.
"Please do the right thing. The child is yours. You are right to care."
Machel said her husband, former president Nelson Mandela was a champion for children because he challenged society to change the way it treated them.
She said a massive effort was needed to do what was necessary to protect South African children.
"None of us should assume that someone else will step in."
She urged South Africans to act if they suspected a child was being harmed in any way by anyone. She said no-one should be afraid to report their concerns to the authorities.
South Africa and Africa were on the brink of welcoming a host of visitors for the 2010 World Cup.
"We want them to know they are entering a country with a soul. There's no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way it treats its children."
Machel urged South Africans to create a movement which gave a voice and a face to the country's children.
"They deserve nothing less. Every child... at every corner of our country must be accounted for," she said.
The campaign was aimed to support those who had dedicated their lives to protecting children, and to ensure that every child was safe and protected at all times.
It would encourage children, parents and families to participate in the fight against child abuse.
"Communities must take charge. The things we do that put our children at risk, we are to blame for these things," said programme director of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, Moipone Buda-Ramatlo.
She urged parents not to leave their children in the care of strangers.
"Communities have changed. We cannot assume anymore that the next person cares that much. You read in the paper that a seven-year-old was raped in your community... what did you do about it? It's eerily silent."
The media did not play its part either and did children a disservice by constantly focusing on the victims.
"We see interviews in newspapers with child victims, these include pictures of them, but pictures of perpetrators are never seen," she said.
Maria Matsebe, a young girl from a children's home, relayed a moving poem about what was happening to children today.
"How do you call yourself a father when you rape... do you call yourself a dad? You're not a dad, you're a monster," she said.
In an introduction to her poem, Matsebe said it was sad to hear the plight of South African children. She told how image was more important to many parents than their children.
"I don't need your money... I don't need your car, I need your love," she said.
Sapa
