GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
27 November 2022
South Africa’s justice system is not coping with the ever-increasing volume of rape cases and is clearly failing the women and children of our country.
In a written reply to our Parliamentary question, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, revealed this week that a staggering number of 15 473 rape cases are currently before the courts. “The total number of outstanding rape cases on the court rolls is: 10 118 in the Regional Courts and 5 355 in the District courts,” stated Lamola.
This at a time when tens of thousands of new rape cases are reported to the police each quarter, while the pace of rape convictions remains worryingly slow.
At the time of asking, the police statistics disclosed only 286 rape convictions between 1 April and 30 June 2022.
During that same period, another 9 516 rapes had been reported to police and in the following quarter, between July and September 2022, yet another 10 590 rape cases were opened.
As a country we need to use this 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign to soberly reflect on what needs to be done to address this war against the most vulnerable in society.
We need effective action, not just outrage and anger every time these statistics increase.
South Africa is a violent, crime-ridden place and we need to address this in a holistic manner, which includes the transformation of our current social, spatial and economic structures.
However, this should also be complimented with the deterrence of the likelihood of prosecution and conviction, which is currently almost non-existent in South Africa.
Women and children need to know that when they speak up, they will be supported by a functioning system that will actually ensure consequences for perpetrators and some form of justice for them.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 0733671223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za