A private member’s Bill intended to compensate victims of violent crime has been submitted by the Democratic Alliance at Parliament.
”This Bill seeks to establish a state fund to which victims of violent crime may apply for compensation,” DA safety and security spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard told a media briefing on Thursday.
Crime was a national crisis and ”everyone knows a victim, or is a victim” of violent crime, she said.
The Victims of Crime Private Member’s Bill, a copy of which was handed to journalists, proposes the establishment of a fund for victims of violent crime. Into this would be deposited, among other moneys, all fines imposed as sentences by courts, and all forfeited bail money.
The measure defines a victim as any person who has been killed or suffered injury as a result of violent crime, including the spouse or minor children of any such victim who died as a result of such crime.
It defines violent crime as ”murder, rape, indecent assault, public violence, terrorism, assault with the intent to commit bodily harm, kidnapping, or any combination of such crimes”.
For a victim to qualify for compensation, those who perpetrated the crime must have been tried and found guilty under South African law.
Speaking at the briefing, DA leader Tony Leon said the Bill provided a legislative framework which, if adopted, could support regulation spelling out the compensation payable to victims of violent crime. Such a system was currently in place in the United Kingdom.
There was currently a ”rampaging crime situation” in South Africa, which the state was failing to tackle properly.
”It is a fundamental duty of the state to protect its citizens. When it fails, the state must compensate them,” he said. – Sapa