CAPE TOWN | Monday
THE South African Law Commission (SALC) should reconsider its rejection of a separate register of sex offenders for the country, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday.
”If a register prevented even one child from becoming the victim of rape, it would be worth it,” DA social development representative Manny da Camara said.
On Monday, the law commission rejected the idea of setting up a separate sex offenders register, arguing it was expensive and had not helped reduce sex crimes in other countries.
Joan van Niekerk, the SALC’s project leader investigating changes to sexual offences laws, said registers of convicted sex offenders which were open to the public at large created a false sense of security and often led to vigilantism.
”It has no justification, no rehabilitative effect. Its deterrent value is suspect, and will drive predatory sexual offenders underground, while at the same time giving clean communities a false sense of security.
”It is a sincere effort to address the problem, but misses the mark,” she said after briefing Parliament’s special task team on sexual abuse.
On Tuesday, Da Camara said the rape of 15 children around the country over the past weekend, and the fact that it failed to make the front page of any newspaper, ”shows exactly how far we have to go in combating the problem of sexual assault of children”.
”Children in South Africa are helpless in the face of this shocking epidemic.
”Police can do their best to catch perpetrators, but there is little that they or the victims can do to prevent it,” he said.
A register of sex offenders had been put in place in several countries, including the United States and England.
Putting one in place in South Africa would not only assist the police, schools and social workers to keep children out of the way of convicted offenders, but it would also help to create a culture in which the sexual assault of young children was taken seriously.
”The problem of vigilantism identified by the commission could be overcome by including various categories within the register.
”Information on low-risk offenders would be accessible only by the police, while information on higher-risk individuals would be accessible by a wider range of people.
”Neighbours would be notified only where a high-risk offender lived nearby,” Da Camara said. – Sapa