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Rh is sent to prison, he cannot be sent to one for first offenders only, or to one where juveniles are effectively kept apart from adult criminals, for no such facilities yet exist in this country."

Apart from drawing attention to the distressing fact that some legislation still permitted the whipping of females, Mitchell J's remarks in fact summarised what turned out to be the central argument proffered by the State in favour of the retention of juvenile whipping. If the option of corporal punishment is taken away, so we were warned, many juveniles who would not otherwise have been sent to gaol would now have to be imprisoned. 86

Pickering J's approach in S v Sikunyana appears to be more helpful in that it gives implicit recognition to alternative correctional supervision sentencing options and the need for courts not to be "unduly hamstrung" by administrative and other difficulties in implementing community service orders. It would therefore seem that notwithstanding the daunting problems highlighted by Mitchell J in 1990, the prospects for more enlightened sentencing options have improved.

To the extent that facilities and physical resources may not always be adequate, it seems to me that the new dynamic should be regarded as a timely challenge to the State to ensure the provision and execution of an effective juvenile justice system. The wider range of penalties now provided for in the Act permits a more flexible but effective approach in dealing with juvenile offenders.