MOGOENG CJ application of force, however minimal. Chastisement does by its very nature entail the use of force or a measure of violence. To appreciate the connection, alluded to by the respondents and the amici, between reasonable and moderate chastisement and violence, we must ask why it is necessary to resort to chastisement in the first place. Is it not the actual or potential pain or hurt that flows from it that is believed to be more likely to have a greater effect than any other reasonably available method of discipline? Otherwise, why resort to it? [40] It is the bite of the force applied or threatened that is hoped to be remembered to restrain a child from misbehaviour whenever the urge or temptation to do wrong comes. How then can reasonable and moderate chastisement not fall within the meaning or category of violence envisaged in section 12(1)(c)? After all, reasonable and moderate chastisement includes corporal punishment with the instrumentality of a rod or a whip. That accords with the biblical injunction referred to above namely, “He who spares his rod, hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.”35 The reference to violence does, therefore, extend to all forms of chastisement, moderate or extreme – a smack or a rod. [41] The objective is always to cause displeasure, discomfort, fear or hurt. The actionable difference all along lay in the extent to which that outcome is intended to be or is actually achieved. Since punishment by the application of force to the body of a child by a parent is always intended to hurt to some degree, moderate and reasonable chastisement indubitably amounts to legally excusable assault. And there cannot be assault, as defined, without meeting the requirements of “all forms of violence” envisaged in section 12(1)(c) of the Constitution. [42] The mischief sought to be addressed through section 12(1)(c) is not only certain or some forms of violence, but “all forms”. We have a painful and shameful history of widespread and institutionalised violence. And section 12 exists to help reduce and 35 Holy Bible New King James Version above n 1. 15