Government looks at opening South Africa’s sex offenders register to the public
While South Africa’s national register for sex offenders is operational there are still some challenges with the system, says deputy minister of Justice and Constitutional Development John Jeffery.
Speaking at an event this weekend (23 November), Jeffery said that government will look at remedying these issues by widening who may access the register,
The Sexual Offences Act provides that names of people convicted of sexual offences against children or persons with mental disabilities must be included in the register.
However, the Act only gives employers in the public or private sectors of people looking after children or people with mental disabilities access to the register, to check that the person being hired is fit to work with children or mentally disabled people.
This is something that needs to be widened, Jeffery said.
“For example, if a person is managing a women’s residence at a tertiary education institution, currently none of those employees have to be vetted because those living in the residence are adults.
“We will, therefore, be bringing amendments to the Sexual Offences Act early next year proposing that offenders with any conviction for a sexual offence should be in the register.”
“Whether or not to make the register public will require intense consultation and debate, as there is also the threat of possible vigilante justice occurring.”
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