Rehana Rossouw
Human rights groups are furious at delays of more than two years in bringing child-abusers to justice.
A former principal of a children’s home in Cape Town, Mike Viveros, has had his trial on charges of sexually abusing seven children postponed 15 times since he first appeared in court in October 1993.
Welfare workers say children are told to prepare to testify each time the case is set down, and that they are traumatised when told the matter is postponed.
They are also concerned that delays could increase the risk of the children becoming unreliable witnesses and that lax bail conditions do not protect them from being approached by the accused.
Although the Western Cape has pioneered the establishment of special sexual offences courts, the region’s Attorney General, Frank Khan, said they are unable to cope with the “staggering” volume of cases to be heard.
“I have repeatedly been unsuccessful in my requests to the Department (of Justice) for the creation of additional special courts,” Khan told the Parliamentary Select Committee on Justice recently.
The Wynberg sexual offences court had more than 250 cases outstanding on its special court roll, which would take about seven and a half months to dispose of.
But Enver Daniels, advisor to Justice Minister Dullah Omar, said providing more courtrooms was not necessarily the solution. “We are facing budgetary constraints,” he said, but noted that what was needed was “a coherent prosecutorial policy regarding sexual offences”.
Two sentences handed down in the Wynberg regional court last week sparked an outcry. Dumisani Mgijima, 19, was sentenced to seven years in jail for raping a 15-year-old girl. On the same day, Lesley Appollis, 61, who repeatedly raped a child over a period of two years, starting when she was nine, was given a suspended sentence on condition that he underwent correctional supervision.
Daniels said the Ministry of Justice had received complaints from a number of attorneys that anyone suspected of committing a sexual offence was brought to court. “The backlog will be cleared much sooner if not just everyone is prosecuted.” He said Omar would “seriously” examine means of addressing the problem.
The childrens’ rights advocacy group Resources Aimed at Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (Rapcan) said the state of the courts and procedures for children were “appalling”.
“We receive regular calls from people who have gone to court with sufficient evidence, and yet these criminals continue to walk free. In many cases, evidence simply disappears or cases are dismissed,” said Rapcan’s Bernadette van Vuuren.
A year ago, Rapcan approached the Minister of Justice to protest this situation and were challenged to prove their allegations. Last week it again approached the ministry.
Last month Rapcan launched an affidavit campaign to gather cases which highlighted the problems experienced by children at court. Van Vuuren said they were “flooded” with examples sent in by individuals, non-governmental organisations and welfare bodies.
Rapcan selected nine affidavits and submitted them to the Ministries of Justice, Social Welfare and Health, the president’s office and the AG’s office. They include:
* A man was arrested after the death of his four-year-old son, who had been brutally assaulted. The father was released without bail and still has access to his other children.
* A two-year-old child, found bleeding internally after being sexually assaulted by her mother’s boyfriend, appeared in court alone. The parents were not allowed to attend, and the mother was told the charges had been dismissed due to insufficient evidence, despite her willingness to testify.
* A man accused of sexually abusing nine children told the magistrate that he was impotent and unable to have committed the crimes. Despite the fact that there was no medical evidence to back his claim, the charges against him were dismissed.