Political parties and at least one anti-childabuse activist group on Friday decried South Africa as a ”paradise for rapists.”
They were commenting on a report in a weekly paper that a study by the national departments of health, safety and security as well as social development, along with the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), had found that only 7,7% of
reported rape cases in 2000 had resulted in convictions.
”The mere fact that out of 52 975 rapes reported in 2000 only 7,7% of them resulted in convictions proves that the criminal justice system in this country is losing the war against rape,” the United Democratic Movement said.
”If 40% of all rapes committed in the country are child rapes, South Africa is not a place for children,” the party said in reference to the report stating that 21 630 of the reported cases involved victims younger than 18.
”The UDM repeats its call for a referendum on the death penalty. If the people of this country favour this route, then child rape should carry a death penalty. The government must realise that this
is for the future and safety of South African children,” the party’s Annelize Van Wyk said in a statement.
The Democratic Alliance’s Mike Waters said the figures implied ”that a person has a better chance of getting away with the rape of a child than they do with a traffic violation.”
Due to the lack of confidence in the criminal justice system, the report also acknowledges that the proportion of rapes reported at police stations was small when compared to the number of rapes committed in society.
People filing rape complaints faced numerous problems, such as the taking of statements by officers who were not trained to understand offences of that nature, investigating officers were not
always available at police stations (a victim could wait up to four hours before meeting an officer), and poorly trained investigating officers and prosecutors.
In response to the study, Miranda Friedmann of Women and Men against Childabuse (WMACA) said she agreed with the sentiment that rape was largely a risk free activity in South Africa.
”It is a very accurate comment to make,” she said, adding that the 94 life sentences handed down to rapists who committed their crimes during that year was not even a drop in the ocean.
The task team that compiled the report was established in March 2000 following a cabinet directive to develop a communication strategy and link it to an initiative to reduce rape, the Mail&Guardian reported.
But to date the report was still not in the public domain and no national strategy for dealing with rape existed.
The report, which evaluated rape statistics for the years 1996 to 2000, also found that it took up to 18 months to finalise a case.
In 30% of 2000’s reported cases, the perpetrator could
not be traced.
In that year, Mpumalanga recorded the lowest conviction rate of the country’s nine provinces, posting a success rate of just three percent in child rape cases and four percent in adult cases.
Friedmann said the courts themselves were ”steeped in secondary abuse of child victims” and reduced the unfortunate boy or girl to a pawn at the mercy of an under-trained prosecutor and a well-resourced defence attorney.
”The most serious crime against the child is committed by the Criminal Justice System,” she said. Children were expected to remember intimate detail about what was for them a hugely traumatic event.
If one wanted to experience something like the ordeal of the victim, one could contemplate being vigorously questioned on exactly what you were wearing on your last birthday and precisely what you did that day.
As for your violation, imagine standing before a room of family, friends and strangers and telling them all about the last time you had sex, she said.
The NDPP and the departments of Justice and Social Development were not immediately available for comment.
The Department of Safety and Security referred comment to the NDPP. – Sapa